Woman kidnapped from parking lot uses wits to elude suspect

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Police say a woman kidnapped from parking lot used her wits to elude the suspect.

Dayton police say what could have been a tragic situation was avoided thanks to a quick-thinking woman and a helpful gas station employee.

Police say a 19-year-old woman was kidnapped at knife point from a Walgreen's parking lot in Dayton on July 5. The 17-year-old suspect ordered the woman to drive him to Jasper, but the woman talked him into stopping at a store in Liberty so she could buy cigarettes, according to investigators.

Dayton Police detective Shane Burleigh says once inside the store with the suspect, the woman mouthed the words to the clerk, "call the police" and went into the bathroom and locked the door. Liberty police officers confronted the suspect, who was armed with a knife, and arrested him.

Larry Bissell of Dayton Lake Estates was charged with aggravated kidnapping. The 19-year-old woman was returned safely to her family.

"Due to the quick actions of the employees of Miller's Shell station, Officer Dickerson and Officer Walter of the Liberty Police Department, and the victim herself, this very serious crime was kept from possible becoming a tragic one," said Det. Burleigh.