Posted on 09/21/2005 10:12:39 PM PDT by freespirited
A 38-year-old amateur photographer -- one of the last people to see missing Virginia Commonwealth University student Taylor Behl -- filed a report with police claiming he had been abducted and robbed just hours after Behl was last seen on the night of Sept. 5.
The photographer told Richmond police that he was walking in an alley near Franklin Street and Monument Avenue at 5 a.m. Sept. 6 when he was "robbed by an unknown number of people," according to a Richmond Police Department incident report obtained last night by The Times-Dispatch.
The photographer told police that he was hit in the stomach by "an unknown object" before being pushed down and having a bag placed over his head. "He was then put into a vehicle and driven to an unknown location and pushed out of the vehicle onto a dirt road," according to the report.
The photographer was "unable to provide any details as to the location where he was pushed out of the vehicle," according to the report, which goes on to state that the photographer needed medication for a bipolar disorder and had been drinking before the alleged attack.
Last night, the photographer's attorney, Chris Collins, said the attack has "nothing to do with the other matter" involving Behl's disappearance. Collins had earlier confirmed that the photographer is bipolar and had a relationship with Behl. The Times-Dispatch has not published the photographer's name because he has not been charged with a crime.
He said his client does not know who is involved in the attack. "But he [the photographer] suspects that it involved an acquaintance with whom he was in an argument with over the rights" to some photographs.
(Excerpt) Read more at timesdispatch.com ...
Anyway, about his story here. I'm just having trouble buying it. I have known about lots of these sorts of disputes over rights to things like photos. Never heard of anyone getting up to settle them in an alley at 5 a.m.
This ex-con and a skate boarding fella/acquaintance of the missing 17 yo girl seem to be the main targets of investigation at this point.
I agree, this "kidnapping" incident is bizarre.
Well.......I guess he had to come up with an excuse to explain the scratches and bruises...eh?
This yahoo sounds as loonie as that jackson dude (dudess?).
Yep, it smacks of a weak attempt to explain away something. For all I know it maybe completely on the up and up but it smacks of being an excuse.
Which means he doesn't have an alibi.. other than this "story"..
Very suspicious..
"Well.......I guess he had to come up with an excuse to explain the scratches and bruises...eh?"
Yes. This guy may have wathched a bit too much Holloway coverage and thinks he can get away with it too. Time will tell.
My son attended VCU. About a 40% graduation rate. I personally hate the school and the area. Richmond is a hell hole. Homeless are everywhere in the area around the school. My son's friends witnessed a murder outside their dorm room. Another parent told me that the school's recent response to the crime, has been to hold a two hour orientation on how to avoid getting robbed and raped (including inside the dorms). They immediately took their daughter out of there.
The city politicians rank right up there with N.O. The housing in town is blighted. Our last landlord was actually a key member of the Richmond HUD staff, yet we had to take him to court because the building was basically a death trap.
It is a "known" item among the locals, that when there are "house parties" which the students attend, there are two types of people that may be lurking outside....first, the cops to bust kids for underage drinking OR if they aren't there, "local thugs" to rob the kids and steal their cars at gunpoint. My son and his friends were robbed just a few weeks back under this scenario.
The current Mayor is former Governor Doug Wilder who seems to be continuing with the status quo.
Poor taylor and her mother.....the girl was so young and probably pretty naiive.
"I guess he had to come up with an excuse to explain the scratches and bruises...eh?"
Exactly.
From my reading of the Virginia page on www.packing.org it appears that a person must be 21 to obtain a Virginia license to carry a concealed weapon. This would eliminate most university undergraduates. Also, VCU appears to be listed among the few places where concealed carry is not allowed. Sounds like the criminals have discovered this.
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