(Memphis) Police say a man who worked at the Olive Garden on Winchester tried to kidnap and rape one of his co-workers.
Police say Jonathon Cox admitted to detectives that he had been plotting the crime for the last six months.
Cox is being held in jail on a $100,000 bond for allegedly trying to carry out the savage crime against the teenage girl.
The man apparently lives in a West Memphis house with his mother.
“He just acts weird, really weird,” said a neighbor, who didn’t want to be identified.
Cox is accused of trying to drag a teenage girl back home with him to tie her up and rape her.
“That’s horrible. That’s horrible,” said the neighbor.
Police say the 29-year-old Olive Garden worker waited out in the parking lot Sunday morning with duct tape and rope in his car.
When the target of his obsession showed up to work, he grabbed her, covered her mouth, and tried to drag her to his car.
The teenage girl was able to break away and run across the street to a bank and call her mom.
Later that day, police swarmed Cox’s home, which is about 40 miles away in West Memphis.
“We knew police was out there but that was it. We were watching the Super Bowl,” said another neighbor.
Once in custody, police say Cox waived his rights and admitted to plotting the kidnapping, saying he planned to have sex with her once he got her to his house.
Detectives say Cox confessed to planning the kidnapping over the last six months.
“You knew he had some issues?” asked Reporter Sabrina Hall.
“Oh yeah. Definitely,” said a neighbor.
“What made you think he had issues?” asked Hall.
“He acted weird. He would hang his head down and he wouldn`t speak. Just strange, really strange,” she said.
Strange, but the neighbor says the allegations are still a shock.
We’re told the victim works as a host at Olive Garden and is still in high school.
According to Cox’s Facebook page, he’s worked as a “back-up” at the restaurant since 2006. His only prior arrest was for speeding.
His next court date is February 11.
