Woman recounts her attempted abduction from Warner Robins dry cleaner

PERRY -- Kaylie Lopez pointed to William Lawrence Carpenter at his trial Tuesday and told jurors he was the man who tried to abduct her while she was working at a Warner Robins dry cleaner three years ago.

Carpenter, 30, is on trial in Houston County Superior Court on charges of aggravated assault, attempted kidnapping and possession of a firearm during a crime. His attorney, Keith Fitzgerald of Macon, told jurors that Carpenter was golfing in Macon at the time.

Lopez became visibly emotional when she was being sworn in, but she quickly regained her composure and remained steadfast throughout her testimony.

She recounted the March 29, 2012, incident for jurors.

Lopez, 19 at the time, was alone at Master Cleaners on Russell Parkway when a man came in shortly before 2 p.m., asking about having a suit dry-cleaned. He seemed upset that it would not be ready until Friday.

She called the main Master Cleaners store on Watson Boulevard to ask if the suit could be cleaned more quickly if taken there.

Meanwhile, another customer came in, and Lopez helped her as the man, later identified as Carpenter, appeared to be talking on his cell phone near his Toyota 4Runner.

When he had first arrived, he had pulled the 4Runner up the wrong way by a sliding glass door at the drive-thru of the dry cleaner and left a passenger door open near that sliding glass door, Lopez said.

The other customer left, and Carpenter again approached Lopez. But this time, Carpenter was holding a handgun, and he ordered Lopez into his vehicle, she told jurors.

"He says, 'Get in the car, get in the car, get in the car.' I tell him, 'No, I don't want to get into the car with you.

"He says, 'Get in the car, get in the car, get in the car.' I say, 'I don't want to get in the car with you. You can take the money, you can go. I don't want to get in the car with you.'

"He says, 'I don't want the money, just get in the car.' "

Lopez then showed jurors how she turned her head and covered her face with one hand.

"And I say, 'Don't know what you look like. You have on your hat and your sunglasses. No one will know it's you. I won't tell anyone. You can go. I don't want to get in the car with you.' "

Carpenter stopped, looked confused and then turned around and went out the sliding glass door and drove off in his vehicle, Lopez said.

She grabbed her cell phone and took a photo of his vehicle. She called her mom and then 911.

Amanda Booth, the other customer who had come into the dry cleaner, also pointed out Carpenter to jurors as the man she saw pacing back and forth near a 4Runner and holding a cellphone to his ear.

Police were able to use Lopez's photo to find Carpenter. But Fitzgerald told jurors that after Carpenter finished chipping and putting, he returned to his 4Runner to put his clubs back inside and noticed that his vehicle tag was missing.

Carpenter called the Bibb County Sheriff's Office to report that the tag was missing, and an officer came out and took a report, Fitzgerald said. Carpenter also purchased new tag that day and put it on the vehicle.

Fitzgerald also told jurors that it would have been possible for someone to have taken Carpenter's vehicle while he was golfing and then return it to the parking lot.

Carpenter told police in a videotaped interview played for jurors that he was golfing at Oakview Golf Course off Hartley Bridge Road for about four hours, from about 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Warner Robins police officer James Nix, the first officer at the dry cleaner, testified that he was dispatched to the attempted kidnapping about 2:15 p.m.

Warner Robins police Sgt. Art Curnutte testified that he was able to blow up Lopez's photo and make out a few of the letters on the car tag.

Warner Robins police Sgt. Meredith Edwards testified that she was able to identify 14 different combinations based on clearly identifying three of the numbers and narrowing down the unclear letters to a few based on their shape. She ran those combinations through a law enforcement data bank. Only one combination matched up to a Toyota 4Runner. Edwards used a driver's license data bank to match that 4Runner's tag to a driver's license, which belonged to Carpenter.

Warner Robins police Detective Mark Wright testified that the description of the vehicle owner listed on the license was similar to the description of the suspect Lopez had given police. Wright noted the strawberry blond hair listed on the driver's license. Lopez testified she saw strawberry blond hair sticking out from under a ball cap that her would-be abductor was wearing.

Testimony is expected to continue Wednesday before Judge George Nunn.

To contact writer Becky Purser, call 256-9559, or find her on Twitter @becpurser.

This story was originally published October 27, 2015 at 10:31 PM with the headline "Woman recounts her attempted abduction from Warner Robins dry cleaner ."