In brazen daylight robbery, driver carjacked at a Lake Norman QuikTrip, police say
In a brazen daylight carjacking, a 76-year-old Cornelius man was robbed of his SUV and $1,000 in cash while filling up at a Lake Norman-area QuikTrip on Monday, police said.
The driver’s 2004 GMC Yukon “was taken by force” at the gas station/convenience store in the 16600 block of Statesville Road just before 1 p.m., according to a police report.
That’s just south of Sam Furr Road, off Interstate 77 Birkdale Village exit 25 near Lake Norman.
The driver wasn’t hurt, according to the report.
Police charged 42-year-old Quinton Walsh of Charlotte with common law robbery and breaking and entering a vehicle, both felonies, Huntersville Assistant Police Chief Brian Vaughan said Friday.
In a statement Wednesday, Vaughan said the assailant shoved the driver away from the driver door, entered the SUV, started the ignition and drove away.
“He started to push me,” the victim told Charlotte Observer news partner WSOC. “I started pushing him back. So we pushed each other, and he pushed me back to the point where he could actually get in my vehicle.”
Officers spotted the driver heading south on Statesville Road toward I-77 Gilead Road exit 23, Vaughan said. Police tried to stop the driver on I-77 southbound, but the driver sped away, crossing a median to exit onto I-485, Vaughan said.
Officers stopped the pursuit “in the interest of the safety of the public,” according to the police statement.
Police released screen grabs of images of the man they believed to be the assailant.
Anyone with additional information is asked to call the Huntersville Police Department at (704) 464-5400.
This story was originally published January 16, 2025 at 1:58 PM.