34-year-old Demetrius Oliver of Meridian has been charged with kidnapping and attempted robbery in a case that happened early Thursday morning. Police say he is classified as a county inmate and is being held in the Lauderdale County Jail.

Officials say a worker arriving to open the Cefco convenience store on 45th Avenue was approached by the suspect and forced into the store's office.

"Once he got her into the store, he took her into the office where he duct taped her feet, her mouth, duct taped her to a chair and then proceeded to try to disable the security system as well as try to get into the safe," said Lt. James Sharpe.

Sharpe says the suspect removed the tape to let the worker open the safe. That's when he says officers caught the suspect in the act.

"Because when they entered the building, the alarm wasn't deactivated properly," said Sharpe. "The alarm went off, which notified the police department and a police officer responded to the alarm and walked into the situation. "

Officials say the store employee was not hurt. Bond for Oliver was set at $75,000.