Colorado Springs police have arrested a man suspected of robbing and kidnapping a woman whom he knocked unconscious and tied with duct tape before driving to an apartment across town.
Police arrested Timothy Clapp, 41, shortly after the 59-year-old woman called 911 on a cellphone from the back of her car just after 1 p.m. Saturday.
The woman, who has not been identified, was taken to Memorial Hospital. She told police she didn’t know her assailant, who hit her with a brick.
The incident began when the woman drove to a Target on Cheyenne Mountain Boulevard while she was on a break from her nearby job, Police Lt. Fletcher Howard said.
A man approached her as she returned to her car in the Target parking lot and demanded money, Howard said. When she surrendered some cash, he pushed her into the car, then drove her to a spot behind the store.
The woman said her attacker had a backpack with him, and she saw him take something out of it and hit her with it. He bound her with duct tape and pushed her back into the rear of her car.
He then covered her with bags he found in the car and drove around town for as long as two hours, Howard said.
“She was in and out of consciousness so she couldn’t tell us how long she was with the gentleman.”
When they arrived at an apartment building at 2900 E. Galley Road, the man got out of the car, and the woman was able to free her hands and call 911. She didn’t know where she was but described the building.
Police used the GPS signal from her cellphone to track her. When they arrived at the building they found Clapp in a hallway, and the woman identified him, Howard said.
Clapp has been charged with second-degree kidnapping, second degree assault and robbery.
He has a lengthy criminal record that includes numerous DUIs, kidnapping, failure to appear, contempt of court, smuggling contraband into prison, domestic violence, possession, assault, probation violation, trespassing and fraud, according to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.
Tom McGhee: 303-954-1671 or tmcghee@denverpost.com
