Inset: Raymar Fraser (Broward County Jail). Background: Fraser allegedly kidnapped a girl outside a Florida thrift store (WSVN).
A Florida man allegedly abducted a 16-year-old girl from a thrift store parking lot, forced her into his vehicle and blocked her from getting out. Investigators say surveillance footage captured part of the encounter.
Raymar Fraser, 41, is charged with kidnapping, interfering with the custody of a minor and battery.
According to a probable cause affidavit, the girl told Broward County Sheriff’s Office deputies that she was waiting outside a thrift store around 10 a.m. Sunday when a man she did not know pulled up. The man, later identified as Fraser, allegedly began flirting with her and asked how old she was, deputies wrote.
The girl told Fraser “definitively” that she was 16, but authorities said he continued pursuing her. Fraser allegedly asked whether she wanted to get breakfast with him and whether she had “ever been with an older man before,” according to the affidavit.
Authorities said Fraser gave the girl his phone number, then allegedly placed an arm around her waist, escorted her to his vehicle and told her to get inside.
Fraser allegedly sat in the passenger seat and pulled the “nervous and apprehensive” girl onto his lap in what he described as an embrace. He asked to kiss her, and she refused, but he allegedly kissed her anyway, police said.
Fraser then reportedly left the passenger seat, shut the door with the girl still inside and moved behind the wheel. The girl was unable to open the door, and Fraser allegedly warned her not to try.
He drove to a nearby 7-Eleven. The girl’s mother, who was tracking her through the Life360 app, noticed that her daughter’s location was moving and called her. The girl appeared to be under “extreme stress” and told her mother she “could not talk,” the affidavit states.
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Once they reached the 7-Eleven, the girl got out and attempted to leave. Fraser allegedly grabbed her wrist and pushed her back into the front passenger seat. He also allegedly forced another kiss on her, according to police. When her mother called again, the girl answered and disclosed that she was in a car with a stranger.
Her mother instructed her to “get out of the vehicle immediately.” The girl asked Fraser to stop and let her out. He allegedly became nervous and stopped the car quickly. She escaped, and her mother picked her up before contacting police.
Investigators used Life360 data to retrace the girl’s movements and obtained surveillance footage from near the thrift store. The video allegedly showed Fraser escorting her toward his vehicle.
Local NBC affiliate WTVJ interviewed John Lundy, the owner of Wall2Wall Grillz jewelry store, whose surveillance cameras recorded the incident. After viewing the footage, Lundy said he believed the girl “did not know what was going on.”
“The situation was very sad,” Lundy told the station. “At first I did not know what was happening until the detective came, rang the doorbell, and told me what the situation was and how important it was to see the footage to capture the guy.”
Police identified Fraser as a suspect and contacted him by phone. During the call, he allegedly asked, “Is she ok?” and said, “It’s not illegal to pick someone up.” Investigators said Fraser later acknowledged that he continued pursuing the girl after she told him she was 16.
Fraser was arrested and booked into the Broward County Jail, where he remains held without bond.
The post Man accused of kidnapping 16-year-old girl in thrift store parking lot in broad daylight told police it’s not a crime to ‘pick someone up,’ cops say first appeared on Law & Crime.
