SALISBURY — A Greensboro man told deputies he was beaten and carjacked at gunpoint on Interstate 85 Sunday night.
The 43-year-old stopped on the roadside shoulder near the Julian Road exit on northbound I-85 to sleep for a few hours, a Rowan County Sheriff’s Office report said. But after about an hour, he said, a man punched him in the face and pulled him out of the car.
Four men, two wearing hooded jackets and the other two wearing hockey jerseys, kicked him on the ground about five times, he told officers. One of the men then pulled out a handgun, “showed it to him” and drove off in his rental 2012 Toyota Camry.
According to the report, the injured man saw several of the attackers get back into a blue 2000 or 2001 Ford Explorer.
Investigators said the incident happened around midnight. A North Carolina State Highway Patrol trooper found the stolen Camry abandoned near the Rowan and Cabarrus counties line at Lane Street.
Detectives are working to get any surveillance footage from the area. Authorities towed the vehicle and are processing it for evidence, the report said.
The man was taken to Rowan Regional Medical Center for treatment. He has since been released.
Deputies said two men were wearing hooded jackets, a gray and a black one. The other suspects were wearing an L.A. Kings jersey and a St. Louis Blues jersey.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office at 704-216-8700.