A trip to throw away trash turned violent for a Charlotte woman on Sunday, September 27, when police say she and another woman were randomly assaulted at a gas station in the city’s Dilworth neighborhood. Sandy Stirrup ended up with a deep gash on her forehead, scrapes across her face and body, a knee injury and a brush with unconsciousness — all after a stranger allegedly hurled a traffic cone at her head.
A Trip to the Trash Can Turns Violent
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police reported that two women were hurt in what they described as a seemingly random assault, according to WBTV. The attack happened at a Circle K on East Boulevard, where Stirrup had gone simply to throw away some trash. She told the station she was assaulted by a person she did not know, and said she had believed someone in the parking lot was unhoused before the encounter turned into an attack.
Before Stirrup was hurt, the attacker threw a traffic cone at a second woman, striking her in the back. The attacker then threw a traffic cone directly at Stirrup’s head, sending her stumbling into a nearby pole before she fell to the ground. She sustained a knee injury and was nearly knocked unconscious in the fall, per the report.
Stitches, Scrapes and a Sobering Warning
Stirrup came away with a deep cut on her forehead that will require stitches, along with scrapes across her face and body, the station’s report notes. She said she is traumatized but will get through the incident, and offered a stark reflection on how much worse it could have been — noting that the traffic cone could have been replaced by a knife or gun, turning the assault fatal.
The incident comes amid a broader decline in Charlotte’s reported violent crime: CMPD’s 2025 year-end figures showed violent offenses fell 21% from 2024, including a 20% drop in aggravated assaults, from 5,695 to 4,533. Those are citywide annual totals, not figures for Dilworth or this gas station, and they do not indicate the risk of an individual encounter. The department’s 2025 crime statistics provide broader context for the case.
Stirrup was told that Circle K’s surveillance video from the scene may be too unclear to identify her attacker, the same account states. She is asking anyone who recognizes the person responsible to contact Charlotte-Mecklenburg police.
A separate assault was reported on East Boulevard less than two months earlier. CMPD said a woman was punched on a sidewalk in the 400 block on July 30 and taken to a hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries; detectives later identified a suspect, who was arrested and charged with assault with a deadly weapon. Police have not indicated that the earlier case is connected to the Circle K attack. The department’s account of that investigation gives a separate example of an assault along the East Boulevard corridor.
A Self-Defense Coach’s Advice for Gas Station Encounters
Self-defense coach Lexi Arnold said attacks like this one can happen anywhere at any time, per the WBTV report. She advised people who sense danger near a gas station or convenience store to trust their instincts and seek help immediately rather than second-guess the warning signs.
Arnold also recommended that anyone approached by someone soliciting outside a gas station go in the opposite direction, return to the safety of the store, or find help nearby. For Stirrup, the ordeal outside the East Boulevard Circle K has become exactly the kind of warning Arnold hopes others can avoid learning the hard way.
