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PrintPolice say an 86-year-old Hill District woman was kidnapped by three people, including the woman's 72-year old sister and her 76-year-old boyfriend, who bound her with duct tape and drove her to suburban Cleveland in what the kidnappers claim was an effort to get the woman out of a squalid home.
Police charged Laura Stewart, her boyfriend, Earl Cross, and a friend, Darnell Randall, 48, with kidnapping and false imprisonment.
Authorities say they shanghaied Ms. Stewart's 86-year-old sister, Evelyn Poynter, from her home at 815 1/2 Clarissa St. in the Sugar Top section of the Hill Sunday and took her to live with Ms. Stewart in Shaker Heights, Ohio.
The trio said they were trying to get Ms. Poynter from a ramshackle apartment that police described as "deplorable" with garbage and clutter throughout. Mr. Randall had been hired to repair the building.
A neighbor, Donald Nicholson, said he knew something was wrong when Mr. Randall asked him to help move Ms. Poynter from her home. Mr. Randall had been living in the same Clarissa Street building as Ms. Poynter.
"He rang my doorbell about 5:30 [Sunday] asking me would I come over and help him carry the person to the car. I thought it was somebody invalid, in a wheelchair or something like that," Mr. Nicholson said. "They had a woman wrapped up in a blanket. She was duct-taped. Her feet were duct-taped. Once I saw that I told him, 'I don't want to have anything to do with this situation.' I walked away from the situation."
City police said they received a tip from a confidential informant who described the abduction. An affidavit gives the same scenario as Mr. Nicholson related yesterday to reporters.
According to statements from the informant, he was told by a man that his aunt needed to be taken to the hospital but refused to go. When he saw Ms. Poynter's hands duct-taped together, he refused to help and called police after seeing Ms. Stewart and a man, later identified as Mr. Cross, drive off with Ms. Poynter in a black SUV.
Police said they questioned Mr. Randall, who at first said he was a relative of Ms. Poynter, then changed his story and gave them a cell phone number for Ms. Stewart.
Police made several calls to Ms. Stewart, who they say was evasive about her location and, at their request, put Ms. Poynter on the telephone.
"At that time the female voice Laura identified as Evelyn's said 'I want to go home. I want to go home,'" a police affidavit said. "Laura was told to bring Evelyn back to Pittsburgh immediately, without her safe return she could face arrest."
Police said Ms. Stewart agreed to bring her sister back.
For the next 45 minutes, police said, Ms. Stewart failed to answer her cell phone. An hour later, they called Allegheny County Assistant District Attorney Lawrence Claus, who recommended a final attempt to contact Ms. Stewart.
At 1 a.m., Shaker Heights police notified Pittsburgh detectives that they had intercepted the suspects as they attempted to rush Ms. Poynter into Ms. Stewart's home.
Mr. Randall was being held in Allegheny County Jail on $10,000 bail pending a preliminary hearing Jan. 8 in municipal court on charges of kidnapping, unlawful restraint, false imprisonment, simple assault and conspiracy. Ms. Stewart and Mr. Cross were taken into custody by Shaker Heights police and face extradition to Pittsburgh on the same charges.
Yesterday, Ms. Poynter was back home but not answering the door. She is a retired pharmacist who worked at a now-closed drug store on Centre Avenue, according to friends.
A neighbor, Katie Evins, said she spoke with Ms. Poynter and was astonished when she learned of the kidnapping in a conversation yesterday.
"They wanted to take her so she could live with a family member," Ms. Evins said. "I think they wanted to do some work in the building."
Ms. Evins was surprised to learn of the criminal charges yesterday, saying Ms. Poynter was close with her family.
"Maybe they thought it was a good thing," she said. "They've been doing this all year, trying to take her away, and she refused to go."
