Suspect may be linked to carjacking of 80-year-old woman

An arrest has been made in an investigation involving the kidnapping and carjacking of an 80-year-old St. Petersburg woman.

According to investigators, on July 17 the victim was placed in the trunk of her car and remained there while her captors robbed a gas station.

Shortly before noon today, detectives arrested Edward Charles Lee, 19, at the Moseley Motel, 401 34th St. N. He was charged with the armed robbery of the gas station. Asked if Lee was involved in the carjacking as well, St. Petersburg police spokesman Bill Proffitt said that part of the investigation is ongoing.

A news release last week said investigators had been looking for two suspects - a man and woman.

Clearwater police say 80-year-old Hazel Mead was kidnapped from her home, put into the trunk of her car and driven around town. Investigators say a man and a woman kidnapped Mead at about 9 a.m. while she was sitting in her 2002 Mercury Grand Marquis in her driveway. They say the pair tied her up, put her in the trunk of her car and began driving around.

Every now and then they would stop and partially open the trunk so she would get some fresh air.

In an initial news release, investigators said that shortly after noon July 17, the pair stopped and robbed an Exxon gas station on Cleveland Street while Mead remained locked in the trunk.

After leaving the gas station in Mead's car, the man and the woman untied Mead and let her out of the trunk. They told her to sit in the back seat of her car and wait for a short time before driving away.

The pair left in what might have been a medium-to-dark grayish car.

Mead got back in her car and drove to a gas station, where police were called.

Mead was injured in the attack and taken to a hospital. Her neighbors said she injured her arm slightly but will be OK. Many are upset the two criminals targeted an older woman.

"I think it's terrible what's going on in the world and then in your neighborhood," Mead's neighbor and friend Connie Economos said last week.

Mead's Mercury was impounded so police could process it for evidence.

Clearwater police would not release how investigators were able to identify Lee as the suspect, but they said that clearly only two people were involved in the robbery - a man and a woman.

Detectives are still trying to identify the woman involved in the robbery, Clearwater police say.

Those with information can call Clearwater police at (727) 562-4242 or St. Petersburg police at (727) 893-7179.