Cory Ray Williams charged with 11 offences relating to recent series of violent crimes

That same night, a 55-year-old man parked in the MacDonald’s parking lot along the 400 block of Mayor Magrath Drive North was carjacked and kidnapped by a man with a machete. The victim was forced to drive to several locations, including a bank and then to the Blood Reserve where he was let out of the vehicle and left by the side of a road.

On Oct. 22 just after 6 p.m., another carjacking occurred in the 200 block of 27 St. S. In that case, a 61-year-old man was in his vehicle when a man with a sword got into his passenger seat and threatened him. The victim was able to disarm the man; however, another weapon was brandished as the suspect jumped out of the vehicle, found a bike and rode away.

Then Oct. 23 just before 7:30 a.m. Lethbridge Police descended on the Westminster and Wilson Middle School area, after a woman told police she had walked a family member to a bus stop and while walking, a man grabbed her, threw her to the ground and demanded her cell phone. The woman was able to flee with minor injuries.

The same suspect description was given in all the incidents and he was located later in the day on Oct. 23, at a north side home. Police say a search warrant was obtained and executed and evidence recovered, including keys to a van stolen in Fort Macleod.

“Our service recognizes the importance of these serious incidents happening over the last two days and certainly over the last week other incidents, and recognizing the importance of identifying and arresting this person swiftly to kind of restore order and the perception of safety over time,” says Lethbridge Police Service Inspector Jason Walper.

Walper told media that Williams was identified as a suspect of interest after the first two incidents Sunday night occurred around the same time. He does have a criminal record and is known to police.

He said he understands that people became afraid when all of these incidents happened within a short period of time as they did not know if they were all caused by different people or if it was just the one, as it turned out to be the case.

During sensitive and serious investigations like these five, Walper explained that they can only release so much information. Any more, and it might compromise the investigation.

“We did identify this as a number one priority for the service and it was all hands on deck. Various units within the divisions in the police service assisted, whether it be from our field operations division to our support division to, obviously, the criminal investigation division. There were many officers throughout the service that assisted in various aspects.”

Now that Williams has been placed behind bars, Walper hopes that this will quell some of the fears the public has had in recent days.

Williams has been charged with:

Kidnapping
Assault with a weapon x2
Flight from police
Dangerous driving
Uttering threats
Robbery
Attempted kidnapping
Break and enter
Theft of a motor vehicle
Attempted robbery

by Lara Fominoff / David Opinko

Cory Ray Williams charged with 11 offences relating to recent series of violent crimes

What's Happening