DNA ties Charlotte man to violent 2024 home invasion using zip ties, NC sheriff says

A Charlotte man has been linked by DNA to a violent 2024 home invasion in which five people were zip-tied and one of them was shot, according to investigators in North Carolina.

Aaron Deunte Ratliff, 37, was arrested May 23 and charge with 10 felonies, including five counts of first degree kidnapping and three counts of assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injuries, the Anson County Sheriff’s Office said in a May 25 news release.

He is accused of breaking into a rural home near Wadesboro on Dec. 21, 2024, and holding the five men and women prisoner for an undisclosed amount of time, officials said. A motive has not been released.

“Upon arrival, deputies discovered several victims who had been restrained with plastic zip ties. One female victim had sustained a gunshot wound to the leg,” the sheriff’s office said in a May 27 news release. “Two additional victims were found to have been assaulted with a hand gun.”

The three injured victims were taken to a hospital for treatment, officials said.

An investigation identified Ratliff as a person of interest, and detectives obtained a search warrant for Ratliff’s DNA, the sheriff’s office said. A chance to collect that DNA sample didn’t arise until he was arrested in Charlotte this year on unrelated misdemeanor charges, officials said.

On May 18, the State Crime Laboratory matched that sample to DNA lifted from the crime scene, and Ratliff was arrested five days later, sheriff’s office said.

In addition to kidnapping and assault, he has been charged with first degree burglary and robbery with a dangerous weapon, the sheriff’s office says.

Court documents report a gun was stolen during the home invasion.

Wadesboro is about a 50-mile drive southeast from uptown Charlotte.

This story was originally published May 28, 2026 at 5:01 AM with the headline "DNA ties Charlotte man to violent 2024 home invasion using zip ties, NC sheriff says."