BILLINGS – As the investigation continues surrounding an early morning attempted abduction on the Billings South Side, neighbors say they’re fed up with yet another crime.
Police responded to an attempted kidnapping and report of weapons around 3:30 a.m. on Fourth Avenue South near the intersection of South 30th Street Friday morning.
No one was injured, but Billings police discovered that a man was forced into a vehicle at gunpoint, and they informed the public through a tweet.
“I'm not going to lie I am very, very much cautious, even letting my dog out this morning,” said neighbor Tanaya Merchen.
When Merchen, who lives just blocks away, woke up Friday to learn about the details of the crime, she immediately turned to her camera system mounted to the front of her home to see if she’d caught anything of interest.
“I thought you never know and sure enough, right there at that time frame I see a similar car going right past,” she said.
While she’s unsure if the car is the same, and police have not verified the video, she noticed one factor that officers asked the public to be on the lookout for: a loud muffler.
“I work with vehicles, so I also recognize you know, different problems with vehicles, and it obviously had muffler issues,” she said.
Later on, Friday, police said they found the Mitsubishi Eclipse suspected in the incident and the investigation continues.
But Merchen still has concerns and questions.
“I get more and more shocked the closer it gets,” she said.
Merchen is a mother of three and says they moved into their South Side home roughly a year ago. She says the house itself is perfect for her family, and only issue is the location.
Friday’s incident magnified that concern.
“Regardless of if it was stranger or not, I mean, with everything that's been going on in our city all around, I mean, you can't trust anything,” said Merchen.
Billings police say in addition to the attempted kidnapping, a shot was fired and it's unclear if the parties involved know each other.
Police did not release the location of where the vehicle was found and said again the investigation is ongoing.
