According to Pickens County Sheriff Billy P. Wofford, the incident that lead to the charges began early on Thanksgiving Day, November 27, 2003 in the Wal-Mart parking lot in East Ellijay.
A white female was getting out of her car around 8 a.m. when she was suddenly confronted by a man with a knife.
Investigators identified the man as Charles R. Hyde, 55, of Tate.
The man blindfolded her and forced her back into her car and then drove around for several hours. During the ordeal the victim was forced to go to a bank in Dawson County and withdraw money from an ATM machine and then was forced to try again at an ATM in Pickens County.
During the day-long ordeal the victim was sexually assaulted by the suspect.
The victim managed to escape the man at the BP
station at the intersection of 515 & 53 in Pickens County around 2:30 p.m. when Hyde went into the station and left the female unattended in the vehicle.
The victim escaped and was able to summon help and the man left the BP station trying to avoid capture.
A DNA specimen left in the victims vehicle matched that of Hyde in the files of the Department of Corrections.
Wofford says Hyde is a career criminal.
"Dating back to the mid to early 1970's, so he has had a pretty lengthy arrest record in Pickens County," Wofford said.
Hyde is being held in the Pickens County Jail. He is charged with Kidnaping, Hijacking of a Motor Vehicle, Armed Robbery, Rape, Terroristic Threats, Aggravated Sodomy and Theft by taking of a Motor Vehicle in Gilmer County according to Chief Detective Stacy Nicholson.
In Pickens County Hyde is charged with Criminal Attempt to Commit Armed Robbery and Theft by taking of a Motor Vehicle said Sheriff Wofford.
The GBI is charging Hyde with Armed Robbery in Dawson County in connection with the ATM
withdrawal.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2004/1/165538