FAYETTEVILLE -- A Fayetteville man was arrested Tuesday after an incident Sunday in which police say he commandeered a woman's car at gunpoint.
Allen D. Vanover, 39, of 221 E. Adobe St., was arrested Tuesday outside his home after he was identified by his parole officer who saw surveillance camera photos posted on Facebook by the Police Department, police said. Vanover was arrested in connection with kidnapping, attempted aggravated robbery and possession of firearms by certain persons. Vanover was being booked into the Washington County Detention Center on Wednesday morning.
Officers were called to a report of a kidnapping at Walmart at 2875 W. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. around 2:52 p.m. Sunday. A woman told police she finished shopping and was walking out to her car, according to a police report. The woman said a man wearing a baseball hat, a camouflage jacket, jeans and a blue face covering walked past her but immediately turned around and followed her.
The woman went to her car, and the man approached her driver's door and prevented her from closing it, according to the report. The woman said the man was holding a gun and asked her for a ride, which she declined.
The woman told officers the man said, "Don't you see I have a gun? Scoot over, and I'll drive."
The woman said she moved to the passenger seat, and the man got into the car and drove around for a few minutes. According to the report, the man told the woman he couldn't drive his pickup because "the cops" were looking for him and would recognize it. The man asked the woman if she had any money, she said. She told him no.
After driving around for a few minutes, the woman said, the man stopped at a restaurant on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, got out of the car and walked away.
Police say surveillance video showed the man as he was described by the woman. The video also showed the man with a gun in his hand.
Police posted photos of the man on social media and received information the same man had been at a store on North Mall Avenue before noon Sunday. Police were contacted Tuesday by a federal probation officer who identified the man in the photos as Vanover, who is one of her clients, according to the report.
Vanover was arrested outside his home Tuesday, according to the police report. He told officers he had gotten a ride from the woman and had asked her for money, but denied pulling a gun on her or committing any crimes. He told police the woman knew him.