In cell, rape suspect misses hearing

The Charlotte man accused of sexually assaulting four women in three months apparently refused to come out of his jail cell Friday for a court hearing.

Lavatae Nacoma Evans, 31, was arrested in December and charged with assaulting three women in the same day. The charges were dropped last month because prosecutors said some of the victims gave contradictory statements and none allowed sexual assault tests to be performed.

But Evans, a convicted felon, was jailed again this week after a teenager told Charlotte-Mecklenburg police that she met up with Evans at the uptown transportation center Wednesday and smoked marijuana with him. Afterward, she said, she wanted to go, but Evans showed a gun and prevented her from leaving, police said.

Evans then took the teen to his home, just north of uptown, and raped her, police said. Evans was scheduled to appear Friday afternoon before a judge via a video monitor from the Mecklenburg jail. The hearing would have been his first appearance in court for the charges filed against him this week. "Mr. Evans did not want to come out of his cell today," said Julia Rush, spokeswoman for the Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office.

The brief hearing continued without him. His bail hearing was scheduled for Feb. 29, and a probable cause hearing set for March 9. Meghan Cooke

Feds seek compensation in Ponzi scheme

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission filed a complaint Friday in federal court, seeking financial penalties from a man who pleaded guilty last fall in a Ponzi scheme.

Regulators asked federal court officials to fine Mitchell Brian Huffman for his role in a fraudulent commodity pool scheme that the government says bilked investors of more than $3.2 million.

In September, Huffman pleaded guilty to one count of commodities fraud. Federal prosecutors said he operated the scheme from August 2006 to last March. Prosecutors say Huffman told investors he could produce profits of 100 percent to 150 percent a year on commodity futures, and that he charged 20 percent of profits as a fee for his services.

However, prosecutors said, Huffman's claimed rates of return were fictitious. Huffman is awaiting sentencing and faces up to 25 years in prison. Steve Lyttle

Pricey Ford Mustang stolen from dealer lot

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police are trying to find the person who drove off a dealership lot Tuesday with an expensive new car.

A new red 2012 Ford Mustang valued at $56,499 was stolen from the Town and Country Ford on East Independence Boulevard between noon and 5:42 p.m. Tuesday, police said.

The dealership told police the suspect used a stolen identity to take the car from the business.

If you have any information, you are asked to call CMPD at 704-336-7600. WCNC-TV

Police search for suspect in grocery store robbery

Police are searching for an armed suspect in a robbery Thursday of the Idlewild Road Food Lion near East W.T. Harris Boulevard.

The man robbed the store about 3 p.m., police said, and was last seen running toward the Piney Grove neighborhood. Police didn't say how much money the suspect took.

The suspect was described as a black man between 5 feet 5 inches and 5 feet 8 inches tall with a medium build and a mustache. He wore a black hooded shirt, black pants with a gold design on the back left pocket, and black sneakers with white soles, police said.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 704-334-1600. Meghan Cooke