Man accused of kidnapping, raping woman in Raleigh

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- A Wake County man was arrested Thursday after he allegedly grabbed a woman by her backpack, dragged her into his vehicle and raped her, according to warrants.

The incident happened near NC State's Centennial Campus, off Avent Ferry Road near Trailwood Drive.

Mario Lee Meadows, 31, of Wendell, is accused of kidnapping and rape. He made a first court appearance Friday.

Officers found Meadows' vehicle on Brigadoon Drive, but when they approached him, he sped off, with the woman in the vehicle, hitting one police vehicle and almost hitting three other officers.

Investigators chased after Meadows and his red Nissan Pathfinder until he stopped on Avent Ferry Road near Chappell Drive. At that point, Meadows and the woman got out of the SUV.

The 34-year-old woman reported she was raped, in addition to being kidnapped.

The search warrant said the suspect said he knew the victim and had been talking to her through an app and text messages. However, the victim said she didn't know him.

Two N.C. State students called 911 after seeing a man dragging a woman into his SUV not far from NCSU's Centennial Campus.

"It didn't seem like she wanted to be grabbed, I mean it was like he was forcibly grabbing her by her bookbag and then like, he kind of just forced her in the car," a student said on the 911 call.

The students, who don't want to be identified because of safety concerns, told ABC11 that they were driving home from the library before 3 a.m. Thursday morning when they saw the kidnapping on Avent Ferry Road and Brigadoon Drive.

"He slammed the car door shut and then walked around to the driver's side, got in the car and started driving," the second student witness said. "I'm just glad we caught the guy who did it. Him grabbing her, and she had a bookbag on, made it seem like he was looking for the demographic of students. We have a lot of friends here. You don't want that to see that happen to anyone you know or care about."