Man kidnapped, suspects captured in Hattiesburg

Published 9:36 am Wednesday, April 13, 2016

A Vicksburg man and woman are accused of carjacking, kidnapping and robbing a Vicksburg man in town Friday and then driving south with the victim.

Billy Westbrook, 27, and Isabella Brown, 18, were arrested Friday in George County about an hour after the victim escaped from the car in Hattiesburg, Vicksburg police Capt. Sandra Williams said.

“The subjects have been charged with kidnapping, armed robbery and carjacking,” she said.

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Around 6 p.m. Friday, the Hattiesburg Police Department reported that a man ran from a vehicle in a Wal-Mart parking lot and into a closet at the supercenter’s vision center where he locked the door, she said.

“The victim was not physically injured,” Williams said.

The victim said around 10:30 a.m. Friday on the 4000 block of Halls Ferry Road,

Westbrook and Brown asked him for a ride and help with their broken down vehicle. The victim said he agreed to help and all three got in the victim’s vehicle.

Once all three were in the vehicle, he said, Westbrook pulled a gun and had the victim drive to an isolated area where he was forced to the backseat of the car at gunpoint.

“The victim was robbed of cash and all of the other possessions in his wallet,” Williams said.

She said at least two stops were made at ATMs in Vicksburg to withdraw money from his account before the group headed south.

Once the victim fled his captors and spoke to authorities, the vehicle was placed on the National Crime Information Center as a stolen vehicle. The duo was stopped an hour later by authorities in George County and the suspects were taken into custody, Williams said.

“The investigation is ongoing,” she said. “Two investigators are in route to Hattiesburg.”

Westbrook and Brown are set to appear in court Wednesday morning before Municipal Judge Toni Terrett.