Walmart kidnapper led police on chases over two days, Wichita police say

A 43-year-old Wichita man who allegedly kidnapped a woman from a Walmart parking lot led police on pursuits over two days before being arrested, police said.

Carlton Francis Albertson was arrested on suspicion of aggravated battery, domestic battery, simple battery, kidnapping, flee and elude and on a Kansas Department of Corrections warrant, police said. Albertson was arrested Thursday after leading police on a chase for the second day in a row that was called off because of “erratic driving and high speeds,” officer Kevin Wheeler said.

Police were first called at around 2:20 p.m. Wednesday to the parking lot of the Walmart at 6110 W. Kellogg. Wheeler said a person reported that a man grabbed a woman by the hair and forced her into a Chevrolet Tahoe.

Albertson and the woman had previously been in a relationship and met at the Walmart to exchange property, Wheeler said. The woman arrived with others in a Pontiac G6, Wheeler said.

When the kidnapper took off with the woman, the driver of the G6 followed. The kidnapper stopped at a business in the 1600 block of South Seneca and the woman got back into the G6.

The kidnapper followed the G6. At around 3:10 p.m., police were called about the driver of an SUV pushing the G6 over a curb and into the grass on Vine Street toward Pawnee. The pushing disabled the car.

The 39-year-old woman and a 34-year-old man in the G6 ran from the car and the SUV driver took off, Wheeler said.

A police chase started in the area but was called off.

At around 2:15 p.m. on Thursday, an officer tried to stop a stolen Ford Thunderbird near Taft and West. The Thunderbird was stolen Tuesday in southwest Wichita, Wheeler said. The driver took off and avoided a spike strip during the chase.

“The pursuit was terminated due to high speeds, and through further investigation officers located the vehicle and determined Albertson to be the driver,” Wheeler said. “And he was taken into custody.”

Wheeler said Albertson was arrested at an apartment complex near 31st and West, near where the chase was called off.

This story was originally published February 14, 2020 at 12:17 PM.