Police are looking for a suspect considered armed and dangerous who allegedly kidnapped and sexually assaulted a woman at knifepoint in a rural area near Penhold early Wednesday.
A warrant has been issued for the arrest of Justin Chase Mueller, 28. Residents are encouraged to contact police if they come into contact with suspect. He may be travelling to the Edmonton area.
Blackfalds RCMP say a 20-year-old was leaving her job at a hotel in Gasoline Alley when a man with a knife approached her from her driver’s side door and forced her into the passenger seat around 12:20 a.m.
The male then drove to Westerner Park and then to the CIBC on 22nd Street in Red Deer. There he brought the female into the vestibule and forced her to withdraw money from her account at knifepoint.
Police say he then took the woman to a rural location near Penhold and sexually assaulted her.
The man then drove the victim back to Red Deer and dropped her off at a convenience store in the Inglewood area before driving away in the woman’s vehicle. Police were contacted and an immediate investigation was undertaken to identify the suspect.
Eight hours later, the woman’s vehicle was found on the west side of Gasoline Alley in a construction site.
The suspect is described as a white male with brown/blonde hair, cut short on the sides and longer on the top. He was wearing a black jacket, black toque, black dress shoes and blue jeans. He has black ink tattoos on both of his biceps.
This suspect has not been captured so RCMP are urging women to be vigilant when out at night and when possible to be accompanied to their vehicles if leaving work later at night.
Mueller has been charged with committing a sexual assault with a weapon, commit robbery with a weapon, kidnapping, uttering threats and theft over $5,000.
If any person has information on these serious crimes or the identity of the suspect, they are asked to contact the Blackfalds RCMP at 403-885-3300 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.