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American Morning
Store Attacks
Aired July 16, 2003 - 09:32 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: I want to get back to that story right now. You talked about last hour in South Charleston, West Virginia. Two assaults on children in crowded stores. The stores only about an hour's drive apart. Are they related? That's the question today. The first incident happened at a Wal-Mart in Ashland, Kentucky on Friday, when a 9-year-old girl says she was approached by a stranger. Captain Don Petrella of the Ashland Police Department now live in Kentucky with more on this.
Sir, thanks, captain, for your time today.
Why do you believe there could be the possibility of a connection between these two cases?
CAPT. DON PETRELLA, ASHLAND, KY. POLICE DEPT.: We don't have any conclusive evidence yet linking both of the incidents, but there are several similarities, the physical description, the clothing description, the MO that the suspect used, the fact they were close in proximity geographically, and the fact that the two incidents were one day apart are very similar, and we're exploring that possibility that they're linked.
HEMMER: Captain, do you have a suspect description you can share with us?
PETRELLA: Yes, I can. The description that we were given of the suspect in Ashland was a white male, 30 to 40 years of age, 6 foot tall, 200 to 225 pounds, brown or green eyes, gray T-shirt, light colored shorts, blue and white tennis shoes, and a white baseball cap.
HEMMER: Now, listen, we were talking to the police in West Virginia last hour. Is this the same information they have?
PETRELLA: The descriptions are very similar, both physical and the clothing description.
HEMMER: All right, they said at the time last hour that they may have more information to release to the public later in the day. Is this the information they were referring to?
PETRELLA: I believe that was probably related to some new leads that are coming in. There are several leads and pieces of information that are being investigated as we speak. And we're hoping that something is going to develop into something that will break this case.
HEMMER: Captain, do you believe the suspect is from your area? PETRELLA: We don't have any way to speculate that at this time.
HEMMER: All right. Do you believe at this point, based on the information you're getting, the leads that you're close to an arrest in any way so far?
PETRELLA: That is also hard to speculate. We would, obviously, like to make an arrest as soon as possible. We have investigators working around the clock. Both from the Ashland Police Department, the South Charleston Police Department, as well as other agencies, including the FBI. We're working just as hard as we can on the case, and we hope to solve this case as soon as possible.
HEMMER: Captain, thank you for your information. Thanks for talking. We'll certainly get that description out you just gave as well. Captain Don Petrella, Ashland, Kentucky Police Department.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired July 16, 2003 - 09:32 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: I want to get back to that story right now. You talked about last hour in South Charleston, West Virginia. Two assaults on children in crowded stores. The stores only about an hour's drive apart. Are they related? That's the question today. The first incident happened at a Wal-Mart in Ashland, Kentucky on Friday, when a 9-year-old girl says she was approached by a stranger. Captain Don Petrella of the Ashland Police Department now live in Kentucky with more on this.
Sir, thanks, captain, for your time today.
Why do you believe there could be the possibility of a connection between these two cases?
CAPT. DON PETRELLA, ASHLAND, KY. POLICE DEPT.: We don't have any conclusive evidence yet linking both of the incidents, but there are several similarities, the physical description, the clothing description, the MO that the suspect used, the fact they were close in proximity geographically, and the fact that the two incidents were one day apart are very similar, and we're exploring that possibility that they're linked.
HEMMER: Captain, do you have a suspect description you can share with us?
PETRELLA: Yes, I can. The description that we were given of the suspect in Ashland was a white male, 30 to 40 years of age, 6 foot tall, 200 to 225 pounds, brown or green eyes, gray T-shirt, light colored shorts, blue and white tennis shoes, and a white baseball cap.
HEMMER: Now, listen, we were talking to the police in West Virginia last hour. Is this the same information they have?
PETRELLA: The descriptions are very similar, both physical and the clothing description.
HEMMER: All right, they said at the time last hour that they may have more information to release to the public later in the day. Is this the information they were referring to?
PETRELLA: I believe that was probably related to some new leads that are coming in. There are several leads and pieces of information that are being investigated as we speak. And we're hoping that something is going to develop into something that will break this case.
HEMMER: Captain, do you believe the suspect is from your area? PETRELLA: We don't have any way to speculate that at this time.
HEMMER: All right. Do you believe at this point, based on the information you're getting, the leads that you're close to an arrest in any way so far?
PETRELLA: That is also hard to speculate. We would, obviously, like to make an arrest as soon as possible. We have investigators working around the clock. Both from the Ashland Police Department, the South Charleston Police Department, as well as other agencies, including the FBI. We're working just as hard as we can on the case, and we hope to solve this case as soon as possible.
HEMMER: Captain, thank you for your information. Thanks for talking. We'll certainly get that description out you just gave as well. Captain Don Petrella, Ashland, Kentucky Police Department.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
