A 38-year-old Memphis man is facing kidnapping and rape charges after an affidavit accuses him of threatening to kill a woman, holding her at gunpoint and forcing her into sex acts before officers intervened. Christopher Harris was taken into custody after police responded to an outstanding warrant, according to the Memphis Safe Task Force, as reported by Action News 5.
According to an affidavit cited by Action News 5, Harris approached the victim near Lamar Avenue and Pearson Road in a black car on October 13 and threatened to kill her if she didn’t get in. Once she was in the vehicle, the affidavit states, Harris held her at gunpoint and forced her to perform sex acts.
The affidavit goes on to describe Harris driving the victim to a dirt lot at Democrat and Oakville, where he stole $120 from her purse. He then attempted to force intercourse, the affidavit says, before officers interrupted him.
Charges Described Differently by Two Outlets
Harris is now charged with kidnapping, aggravated rape, attempted aggravated rape and aggravated robbery, per the affidavit details reported by Action News 5. A separate report from WREG, however, lists the charges as aggravated rape, aggravated robbery, criminal attempt felony and kidnapping — a discrepancy in the precise charging language that has not been resolved in available records. WREG also reported that no bond had been set for Harris at the time of its report.
Task Force Behind the Arrest
The arrest came from the Memphis Safe Task Force, a joint operation that includes the Memphis Police Department, three county sheriff’s offices, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Marshals Service, as noted by WREG. The task force executed several arrests in the week before the incident came to light, the station noted.
The task force has been active in Memphis since arriving at the end of September 2025 and had logged 13,186 arrests as of late September, according to the U.S. Marshal for the Western District of Tennessee cited by WREG. Of those arrests, 1,463 — about 11 percent — involved known gang members. The task force has also reported that robbery is down 47 percent and motor vehicle thefts are down 59 percent compared with the same period the previous year.
Other Recent Task Force Activity
WREG separately reported that five men were charged with rape and drug and weapons offenses in unrelated cases tied to task force arrests made on a Tuesday, per a report from WREG. U.S. Marshals Service releases have also detailed other recent sweeps, including one Tuesday operation that resulted in 34 arrests and the recovery of six illegal firearms.
