Suspect arrested in Jonesboro car theft, kidnapping involving grandmother
ATLANTA - Police have made an arrest in a carjacking and kidnapping involving an elderly woman in Clayton County.
Police said the suspect, 33-year-old Taron Williams, was arrested on Miriam Lane in DeKalb County, about 20 miles from the Jonesboro convenience store where this all began. The arrest came hours after Williams allegedly drove from that store in a stolen car with 86-year-old Shirley McCurry inside.
Officers went to the scene where someone reported seeing the stolen car, a 2016 Nissan Rogue. Police said officers saw the car and Williams before arresting him. He faces kidnapping and felony theft charges.
Police said the incident began Thursday afternoon on North Main Street in Jonesboro. Police said Shirley McCurry was sitting in the passenger seat of a car at a convenience store when a man jumped behind the wheel and drove off.
Taron Williams
"Locked the car, but my mom must've unlocked the car," said Phillip McCurry, victim's son.
Surveillance video shows a man dressed in light clothing apparently talking on the cell phone. He looks at the SUV and walks over as the passenger window rolls down. The man gestures toward McCurry and gets behind the wheel.
"The guy unlocked the car with my mom in it," said Phillip McCurry.
Raw video shows elderly woman being abducted during car theft
The Clayton County Police Department released this raw video that investigators say shows a man dressed all in tan with red shoes approach an SUV with an elderly woman inside. He then gets into the gray 2016 Nissan Rogue with Georgia tag CTW6796. This happened a food mart located in the 7800 block of North Main Street in Jonesboro on Dec. 8, 2022.
Hours passed before the SUV was sighted. Police said the kidnapper and carjacker drove to Bastone on Howell Mill in West Midtown. At some point, he took off.
"Why he would do something like this to a sweet lady like my mom, thank God he didn't hur her. I'm just glad she is alright," said Phillip McCurry.
McCurry picked up his mom outside the restaurant on Howell Mill Road in Atlanta after her terrifying ordeal that lasted hours.
"I'm just relieved that she's alright now," he told FOX 5. "I got my momma back, I thought I lost her."
The carjacker took off, but someone reported the Nissan Rogue to DeKalb police at around 9:30 p.m. on Thursday.
Williams was booked into the Clayton County Jail.