i would not have had the strength to do that. reporter: we talked with that man. i think about that now, that was a pretty crazy thing to do. didn t know who this guy was. reporter: we found that robert ramirez was charged at least eight times and released on jail. many say that the drive-through stake attack is a wake up call. you hope there is a good samaritan that helps you out. reporter: that good samaritan was punched a couple of times with the suspect, and the suspect, robert ramirez, is charged with attempted kidnapping and assault. live in cotswold, i m jim bradley. a $400 million plan to fix the crumbling roads is on the the state gave the final approval. the bill takes money from the general fund instead of the gas tax, but opponents call it a phony, do-nothing bill. a group fighting the toll lanes on i-77 will release a report explaining why toll plains won t work. widen i-77 said it was analyzing private toll projects across the country. supporters
economy were strong issues. while speaking to a huge crowd at pnc pavilion. we have the most unequal distribution of wealth and income of almost any major country on earth. it is worse today than at any time since 1928. and in elizabeth, crowds are building to see sanders rival, hillary clinton at the grady cole center. now she s not expected to begin speaking until after 9:00 tonight. but the supporters are all ready there. they say they wanted to make sure they got a good spot. i m here to support hillary. she has been such a fighter for women s rights and also criminal justice in all minority communities. so i m here to support her. to cheer her on, go hillary. and on the republican side, supporters and opponents of donald trump clashed outside of his rally today in hickory. police ended up citing six people after a small fight even on the inside. trump s interview with new jersey governor chris christie was put on hold while a small group of people were there chan
the political spotlight is certainly on our region. and we have a team of reporters covering everything. eyewitness news reporter dave faherty begins our team coverage tonight in hickory where donald trump visited not long ago. we learned this afternoon that a total of six people were sited earlier today. police say no one was hurt both sides. we could see police repeatedly step in to keep the calm as opponents of trump and supporters clashed outside the pe monroe auditorium. police escorted some from inside out this door, including one group who told us they planned on protesting the republican front runner from the beginning. we re going to be in every city in this country resisting it. it s our obligation, it s our duty. we have to be there. we had a sign that said turn others like that bernie sanders supporter never made it inside. capturing the moment he says he was turn aid way at the door on his cell phone. why did you want to go inside? to make history. tr
averaging 100 voters an hour, and there has been a steady stream all morning. this is the first time that the state s primary election is in march instead of may and puts more importance on north carolina s primary, and that s why donald trump, bernie sanders, and hillary clinton were all in our area yesterday. the voters told me because there are such varying views on the issues, it would be more important for them to come vote today. coming off the economic crisis in 2008, it s important to make sure that ourselves and our children are taken care of in the long run. reporter: nearly 700,000 people voted early across the state which is 10.5% of registered voters, significantly more than the last presidential primaries in 2012. all voting precincts in the state are tonight. stay with channel 9 throughout the evening. we ll have election results on come in. liz foster, channel 9, eyewitness news. and thank you, liz. channel 9 is your complete source for the primary elect
reporter: charlotte s former mayor who admitted to taking bribes in office is halfway through his sentence. he pleaded guilty to a reduced victim charge today and was sentenced to a single day in jail to be served concurrently with his federal time. cannon said little in court but stood briefly to address the judge. i want to thank you for the student. i hate to come here under these circumstances. but i want to apologize to the court for doing so and thank the court for undialinging indulging me. reporter: pat smile and another conviction on his resume. now, admittedly, the state s voter fraud case may not be as sexy as the for the agents finding him taking bribes but they felt it was important to bring the case to court, and patrick cannon told me he is reflecting on his future. more on that at 10:00. jim bradley, channel 9 eyewitness news. we have been following the case since he was indict inside 2013 and a year later, he was sentenced to 44 months in prison aft