A felon accused of kidnapping his ex-girlfriend at gunpoint from her Woodcrest residence and forcing her to drive him to Riverside was charged Wednesday with kidnapping and other offenses.
Maurice Dion Gamble, 42, of Riverside was arrested Friday following a Riverside County Sheriff's Department investigation.
Along with kidnapping, Gamble is charged with firearm assault, making criminal threats, being a felon in possession of a loaded gun, possession of a sawed-off shotgun and using a firearm during an abduction.
Gamble, who is being held in lieu of $1 million bail at the Robert Presley Jail, was slated to make his initial court appearance Wednesday afternoon at the Riverside Hall of Justice.
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According to sheriff's Sgt. Jared Howe, in the predawn hours Friday, deputies were alerted to a possible kidnapping from which the victim had escaped.
Further investigation revealed that the woman, whose identity was not disclosed, had been forced to drive Gamble at gunpoint from her Woodcrest residence to west Riverside, Howe alleged.
"The victim was able to flee from the suspect and contacted the Riverside Police Department," the sergeant said.
She was not physically injured.
Howe said that, with patrol officers' assistance, deputies tracked down and took Gamble into custody without incident in the area of Laurel Drive and Canyon Ridge Road, near California Citrus State Historic Park.
Court records show that Gamble has several unresolved felony cases pending, including for alleged possession of an assault rifle, domestic violence and assault resulting in great bodily injury. He has prior convictions in another jurisdiction that were not listed in records.
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