PIKEVILLE, Ky. — A Pikeville man is in jail after being accused of kidnapping a woman earlier this month.

Pikeville Police say the incident took place Jan. 9, with a call reporting a man was chasing a woman along Scott Avenue. The caller told police the man hit the woman from behind and took a pink backpack from her.
Police responded to the area but couldn’t find anyone.

Less than two hours later, the woman contacted police, saying she was hiding in a gas station bathroom from 38-year-old Richard May. Police responded to the gas station and were told by employees that May had brandished a knife and forced his way into the women’s bathroom, but ran out the back of the store when police arrived.

The woman told police May had chased her and took her backpack earlier that that, but told her she could have it back if she went back to his apartment. She said she went to his apartment, then left.

She said she was later walking along the Don Combs Bridge, when May spotted her and yelled at her. That’s when she ran to the gas station and hid in the bathroom, holding her legs up so he couldn’t see them. However, she said he crawled under the stall and stood over her, taking something from her backpack and then running away.

Police were unable to find May that day, but arrested him on Saturday. He is now charged with kidnapping, wanton endangerment and menacing.