By By Connie Nowlin
Managing editor
Escambia county sheriff's deputies and Poarch Creek Police responded Sunday night to a call from a service station at Jacks Springs Road and Interstate 65. According to Escambia County chief deputy Maj. Mike Murphy, the call came in at 9:52 p.m. When deputies arrived on the scene, they found an elderly woman who said she had been kidnapped from Mobile. The suspect had fled the area.
Murphy said the police contacted the victim's daughter, who drove to Atmore to pick her up. The Escambia County police helped the victim contact the Mobile Police Department to report the kidnapping and start a case file.
According to Mobile Police Cpl. Pat Mitchell, the victim, Octavia Packer, 63, was leaving a jazz concert in Mobile about 8:30 p.m. when a man with a knife forced her into her own car and drove away. After a short time, he forced her into the trunk. Later, the victim said the driver made her get into the car's front seat.
When the suspect stopped at the service station, Mitchell said, the victim seized the opportunity to escape. A suspect was arrested late Monday by narcotics officers in Monroe, La., and identified by police as Daniel Knott, of Mobile. Mitchell said the victim's car and other personal items were recovered and Knott will be charged with robbery and kidnapping in the first degree.