Alabama police arrested a career criminal in connection with the armed robbery and kidnapping of an Alabama nursing student who made a daring escape from her car trunk.
Manuel Towns was arrested and charged with kidnapping in the first degree, robbery in the first degree and two counts of fraudulent use of a credit card, according to NBC News.
The incident occurred in the Avondale neighborhood of Birmingham, Alabama around 10:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 14.
Brittany Diggs, 25, told police she was kidnapped at gunpoint and forced into the trunk of her black Nissan Altima as she walked into her apartment building on 4th Avenue South and 38th Street.
She said the suspect demanded money from her, robbed her of her wallet and cell phone and forced her into the trunk of her car.
“The whole time he’s driving, he’s, like, just, he’s yelling at me from the front seat, ‘You’re lying. I know you have something. Give me your money.’,” Diggs told the TODAY Show on Monday.
Towns drove around to various banks in Birmingham, using Diggs’ pin number to withdraw money from ATM Machines.
When he pulled into a gas station to use the ATM machine, Diggs used the light on her insulin pump to illuminate the interior latch to pop the trunk.
Diggs jumped out of the trunk and fell on the ground as Towns pulled away from the gas station.
She ran into the gas station where the owner hid her in a back room until police arrived.
“I just got the bright idea to use my insulin pump light, which is not a bright light, but it was bright enough to see,” Diggs said. “So I had to put it right on top of it to look and see for the latch.”
Most modern cars have illuminated trunk latches that remain lit even when the engine is turned off.
A judge set Towns’ bond at $500,000 and he will have his first court appearance within 48 hours, the district attorney’s office said.
