LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. — A Lancaster County man pleaded guilty to felony counts of kidnapping, robbery, and aggravated assault in connection to a 2019 attempt to kidnap a woman at the Kendig Square shopping center in Willow Street, according to the Lancaster County District Attorney's Office.
Christopher Lee Mitchell, 38, was sentenced to 12 to 30 years in prison by Lancaster County Judge Dennis Reinaker, according to prosecutors.
He admitted to trying to abduct a woman at knifepoint in the July 30, 2019 incident, prosecutors say.
The incident occurred outside a Planet Fitness gym located in the shopping center.
Mitchell appeared via videoconference for the sentencing hearing, according to Assistant District Attorney Travis S. Anderson.
He targeted the woman as she walked to her vehicle near the gym, prosecutors say. He grabbed her, held her at knifepoint, knocked her to the ground, and forced her into her vehicle while demanding she give him her car keys.
The woman fled the vehicle and ran away, according to prosecutors.
West Lampeter Township police connected Mitchell to the crime using surveillance video and a tip from an employee at a nearby store, who saw a press release on the incident and believed the suspect description matched someone seen around the store.
Police reviewed surveillance footage and recognized the person depicted as Mitchell. The victim identified Mitchell as her attacker, according to prosecutors.
