A federal charge filed Monday alleges a man kidnapped a Lansing woman after she walked in on a burglary, sexually assaulted her twice and set her on fire during a brutal, hours-long ordeal.
Carleous Clay, 33, of Lansing, took the woman to an abandoned Burns Harbor business early Friday where he sexually assaulted her and strangled her to the point of unconsciousness, court records state.
The woman next recalled being on fire and sought help at a McDonald's at a truck stop on Melton Road, according to an affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago.
Clay was taken into custody Sunday night in Holland, Mich., and held on a local parole violation, according to a FBI news release.
The 53-year-old woman's ordeal began when she arrived home late Thursday and walked in on a burglary, court records say.
A man, later identified by the FBI as Clay, came at her with a hammer and forced her into the trunk of her vehicle, authorities said.
Clay used the woman's debit card to withdraw money at 11:47 p.m. Thursday from an ATM at First Merchants Bank in Munster, authorities said. He pulled up to BMO Harris Bank, 915 Ridge Road in Munster, at 11:57 p.m. and appeared to use its ATM, court records say.
Clay sexually assaulted the woman in her vehicle after leaving the second ATM, according to the affidavit.
The vehicle was seen at 2 a.m. Friday backing into an abandoned business in the 200 block of Melton Road in Burns Harbor, court records say.
The woman told authorities Clay sexually assaulted her a second time and strangled her until she passed out. She has not been fully debriefed by the FBI because of the extent of her injuries, court records say.
A surveillance video from a nearby business showed the woman walking, with her legs on fire, toward Melton Road at 2:49 a.m. and then east toward the Pilot Travel Center at 243 Melton Road, the affidavit says.
The woman walked into a McDonald's at the Pilot at 3:05 a.m., and workers called 911.
The woman's vehicle was found Friday morning in a parking lot outside a large apartment complex in Holland, Mich., where Clay once lived, court records say.
After the FBI released surveillance images from the BMO Harris Bank ATM in Munster, three people who knew Clay identified him as the suspect, the affidavit says.
Clay's current address is three blocks from the woman's home, and his last parole check was Sept. 12, according to court records.
The FBI executed a search warrant at Clay's Lansing home Sept. 20 and found a T-shirt with a suspected blood stain, latex gloves, a woman's stocking and items that appear to match items missing from the woman's home.
The FBI lab also found DNA taken from the woman's body matched DNA Clay has provided to the Illinois and Michigan departments of corrections, the affidavit says.
Clay is charged with one count of kidnapping. If convicted, he could face up to life in prison, according to the FBI.
Clay was paroled May 27 after serving more than four years in prison for assault with intent to rob while armed, according to online Michigan Department of Corrections records.
