Woman Goes On Bizarre Crime Spree That Escalates To Kidnapping
THORNTON, Colo. (CBS4) - A crime spree was stopped in Thornton after a woman pretended to be in need of help. Neighbors say the suspect made her way into people's homes with a gun. In one case a child was kidnapped.
The spree happened Monday morning in the Hunters Glen neighborhood off 136th Avenue and Washington Street.
Neighbors say the armed crime spree happened to three different homes with the suspect's boldness elevated with each stop. Dave Allis was sitting on his couch when a woman banged at his glass backdoor.
"I said, 'What do you need?'" explained Allis. "She said, 'I need help, I need help, I need help.'"
Allis would later learn the woman was Tori Jo Carlson, 22, who then pulled a gun on him.
"I backed into the house, closed the door and locked it," he said.
Allis then called 911.
Seconds later, Gerad Bergrud says the suspect walked into his home through the back door.
"She said, 'I don't want to hurt you.' I noticed she had a pistol in her hand." Bergrud said.
He says he was in a position that he could go around a corner in the house. He backed into a room, closed the door and says the suspect left through the front door.
Two doors down, Melanie Clements was at her kitchen sink when she heard the garage door close then saw the suspect run inside.
"She pointed a gun at my chest, cussing and screaming that she was going to kill me," Clements said. "She kept cussing and yelling, 'You know what I want, you know what I want.'"
Clements was babysitting a friend's 4-year-old child, who was also in the room, when she says the situation continued to escalate. Clements was able to talk the suspect into putting the gun down after being held at gunpoint for about 20 minutes.
Clements says the suspect eventually got a call and left the house with the child, but did not get far.
"When she got far enough around the corner I grabbed him (the child) and ran back to my house and locked the door," she said.
Clements says she just glad it's over.
"God was watching over us," she added.
The child is okay. Carlson was still in the neighborhood by the time police arrived and arrested her for burglary, kidnapping and felony menacing. She does not have a prior criminal history. Her bond is set at $50,000.
Jennifer Brice is a reporter with CBS4 focusing on crime and courts. Follow her on Twitter @CBS4Jenn.
