Suspect hit with frozen turkey

FUQUAY-VARINA -- Fred L. Ervin got his Thanksgiving turkey early this year.

A passer-by armed with a frozen turkey used the bird as a cudgel upside Ervin's head Sunday while coming to the rescue of a woman outside a grocery store on Sunday, Fuquay-Varina police say.

Police Chief Larry Smith said police think Fred L. Ervin, 30, of 9221 Ten-Ten Road, Raleigh, had gone to the parking lot to find a getaway vehicle after stealing cash from the cash register of the BP gas station, across the road from the grocery store. Ervin spotted a 53-year-old woman who was walking toward her car with groceries. He tried to wrest away her car keys, Smith said.

"The suspect attacked her and began beating her," Smith said. "Her injuries are fairly serious."

Some other shoppers witnessed the attack and called 911. Several ran to the woman's aid, including a man with a frozen turkey, Smith said.

Smith did not know how many times Ervin was struck with the turkey. He declined to release the name of the turkey-wielding hero.

"I'm not in a position to release that information, because we're not sure who all was involved," he said.

Gloria C. Ventura, 54, of Fuquay-Varina, had just entered the parking lot, where she saw a woman on the ground as a man wrestled with her.

"I think: 'Maybe they're husband and wife,'" Ventura said Monday, "until I heard her screaming."

Ventura stayed at a safe distance because she thought the man had a gun, but she said several shoppers went over to the wrestling pair. One woman tried to hold the man to prevent him from escaping, she said.

Despite being bludgeoned on the head with the frozen turkey, Ervin managed to drive off in the victim's Nissan Maxima. But he didn't get far.

The stolen car hit five other vehicles in the parking lot of the Harris Teeter on Ten-Ten Road, Smith said. Police from Fuquay-Varina and Garner joined Wake sheriff's deputies in pursuing the car into Garner, where they arrested Ervin.

The BP station is in Garner, and police there have charged Ervin with larceny in that theft, reported about 11:30 a.m. Sunday.

Ervin also is accused of a carjacking Saturday night at the McDonald's, which is in the same building as the BP.

Garner police Sgt. Joe Binns said that Ervin implied he had a gun when he took a 1999 Chevrolet Cavalier from a man who was not injured. The car was recovered Sunday night at the intersection of McCullers Road and Gulley Lane.

Ervin was under police guard Monday at WakeMed, where he was listed in good condition. So far, police have charged him with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury, robbery and a host of traffic violations.

The woman who was attacked was treated at WakeMed and released.