LEWISTON – Police throughout the day Friday searched for an Auburn man accused of kidnapping, assaulting and robbing a woman in an early-morning attack on Main Street.
By Friday night, 20-year-old Rontrell Jarmareal Nelson remained at large after the 7:15 a.m. incident that began at 7-Eleven.
Lewiston police Lt. Tom Avery said the woman, whom the suspect knew, was at the Main Street store when Nelson confronted her. The woman tried to run away from Nelson, police said, but was unable to escape.
“Seeing him approach, she was able to get into her car and she tried to flee,” Avery said. “But he was able to get into the car as well and he physically forced her to drive away.”
Police said Nelson ordered the woman to drive to the area of Main and Frye streets roughly a quarter-mile away. When she pulled to a stop, police said Nelson assaulted her.
“He attempted to strangle her,” Avery said. “He took a hundred dollars in cash from her as well as her cell phone.”
Nelson jumped out of the car and took off on foot, police said. The woman reported the incident shortly afterward.
Nelson had been free on bail after an earlier arrest in which he was charged with abusing the same woman.
Court records show that Nelson has been arrested numerous times in Lewiston and Auburn on charges of assault, threatening and violating bail conditions. Those records show Nelson’s address as Elm Street in Lewiston and on Eighth Street in Auburn. Police believe he last lived at the Auburn address.
On Friday, police officers were assisted by an agent from the Central Maine Violent Crimes Task Force as they searched for Nelson. He is wanted on a warrant charging kidnapping, robbery and assault.
By nightfall, Nelson remained at large. Anyone with information about his whereabouts is asked to call Lewiston police at 784-7332, ext. 202.
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