By Shavonne Walker

shavonne.walker@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY — Salisbury Police say a local man is accused of robbing a South Carolina woman at gunpoint after she traveled to buy a cell phone through a Craigslist ad.

Witt Darnell Alexander, 23, whose address is listed as the streets of Salisbury, was charged with felony robbery with a dangerous weapon.

A woman met police Tuesday at Speed Stop on West Innes Street where she explained she’d just been robbed at gunpoint. She told police the suspect was an African-American man with black dreadlocks with blonde on the tips. Alexander was developed as the suspect.

The victim traveled from Columbia to buy a cell phone after seeing an ad posted on Craigslist, said Capt. Melonie Thompson.

She said the man went inside a Link Avenue home to retrieve several phones. She said it began to ring and she let him sit inside her car. The final time he returned the man pointed a gun at her, took her phone and demanded her money. She had $100 with her.

Several police officers searched on foot for the suspect, who took off when he spotted an officer. Thompson said Alexander ran into the street, nearly getting hit by two vehicles. Police caught up to Alexander in a wooded area near the 200 block of Roy Street.

Officers told Alexander if he did not come out of the woods they would send in a police dog. Thompson said Alexander came out of the woods. A Samsung cell phone was found not far from Alexander.

He was issued a $25,000 secured bond and remains in the Rowan County Detention Center. Alexander was convicted of felony possession of a schedule VI substance, obtaining property by false pretenses, credit card theft, simple assault and second-degree trespassing in the past.