A man asked a woman on Cloverleaf Parkway in Kannapolis for a ride on Thursday, and when she said no, police say he pulled her out of her own vehicle and took off in it. The car was later wrecked in Huntersville, where the suspect was taken into custody.
Police identified the suspect as Michael Thorne, who is accused of approaching the woman and asking for a ride before forcibly removing her from the vehicle when she refused, according to WSOC-TV. The woman suffered minor injuries in the encounter, police say. Investigators said Thorne then stole her car and later crashed it in Huntersville, where Channel 9 crews captured him being taken into custody.
Thorne Faces Multiple Charges as Court Date Approaches
Thorne faces multiple charges stemming from the incident, though the specific counts have not been detailed. He is expected to appear before a judge Monday, according to the same report.
A separate search-result account of the story describes the same broad outline, naming Thorne as the man accused of approaching the woman on Cloverleaf Parkway, though that snippet offers fewer details than the full report and should be read as a lower-confidence summary of the same incident.
Other Recent Vehicle Theft Cases in the Area
Vehicle theft cases have surfaced elsewhere in the Charlotte region recently, though they are unrelated to the Kannapolis case. In Huntersville, a Flock camera flagged a stolen vehicle sitting in a restaurant drive-through lane in the 10000 block of Cane Creek Drive around 11:23 p.m. on a Sunday, April 19, according to qcnews.com. The suspect in that case, identified as Savon Santario McKnight Jr., fled on foot before a K9 officer tracked him down.
McKnight was charged with possession of a stolen motor vehicle, resisting or obstructing, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, the outlet reported. He was also issued citations for driving without an operator’s license and hit and run.
Kannapolis has also seen a separate, unrelated violent incident involving a reported carjacking attempt. In that case, officers shot a suspect during the confrontation, per WSOC-TV’s account, which places the location near South Main Street and Bethpage Road, while the same report’s description of the initial 911 call references gunfire near South Main Street and Bell Street. Officers had responded to the area around 11:40 a.m., according to that report, though it does not clarify whether those location descriptions refer to the same spot.
No further details on the charges Thorne faces or the condition of the vehicle have been released. The case remains active ahead of his scheduled Monday court appearance.
