Arrest warrants issued for man accused of locking woman in bathroom for days, beating her

Published 11:28 am Wednesday, April 10, 2024

SALISBURY — Police have issued arrest warrants for a man accused of locking a woman in a hotel closet and beating her for multiple days.

Officers sought and received warrants for the arrest of 30-year-old Kameron Lamont Birst for the charges of felony second-degree kidnapping, misdemeanor assault on a female and a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence, according to Sgt. Justin Crotty, a spokesperson for the Salisbury Police Department.

The charges come after police said that Birst prevented a woman from leaving a Salisbury Transit bus before getting off with her and taking her to Sheetz on Friday. After finishing at Sheetz, the man allegedly took the woman to the Econo Lodge on Jake Alexander Boulevard South and locked her in the bathroom.

According to what the victim told investigators, Birst then held her against her will in the bathroom over the weekend. During that time, he allegedly beat her multiple times. On Sunday, the victim woke up and realized that Birst was not in the hotel room. She then called police and reported the kidnapping and subsequent assaults, said the spokesperson.

Birst has previously been convicted of multiple offenses, including two counts of felony robbery with a firearm in Durham County in 2016 and a count of misdemeanor assault on a female in Rowan County in 2012, according to N.C. Department of Adult Corrections reports.

Birst was also charged with and convicted of willful or wanton injury to real property in 2012 after he broke a window in his mother’s home when officers attempted to intervene in a drunken argument between him and his girlfriend, according to previous Salisbury Post reporting.