CHARLOTTE, N.C. – It comes as no reprise that there is crime in uptown Charlotte, but looking at recent crime stats in the area, there is nothing like what happened there early Thursday morning when a couple visiting the city was raped and robbed.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Captain Dave Johnson is the commander of the Central Division that covers uptown.
Johnson said, “I can’t remember one like this in uptown.”
The attack on the couple happened on East Martin Luther King Boulevard in the 200 block about 2 a.m. Thursday morning.
Hours later CMPD officers located 19-year-old Tevin Williams and charged him with the assaults and robbery.
There was a murder back in February at the other end of the same Boulevard.
A 65-year-old newspaper delivery man named Walter Scott Jr. was shot and killed after carrying a load of papers into a store in one of the city’s new condos.
A check of crime stats for just the last week showed only on another incident on the Boulevard and that was a larceny.
The stats show the area with the most crimes was around the Transit Center where there were eight crimes reported, most involving assaults and larcenies.
Most anyone will say they feel safe and are comfortable on the streets of uptown during the day.
But one area resident, Maureen Amey said it's different at night.
“At night it is a different story. I would stick to a very specific, defined area,” she said.
CMPD says anyone walking in uptown or anywhere after dark should be doubly aware of their surroundings.
“That goes without saying," Captain Johnson said.