A married couple was driving in Buford around 1 p.m. on April 9 when they saw a woman on the side of the road. She was “distaught, scared” and appeared to be missing a shoe, they told Gwinnett County police. They decided to stop and help when a car pulled up next to her.
When a man got out of the car, the couple began to drive away, thinking he was going to help the woman. Instead, he punched her and forced her into the car, a police report said.
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The man was identified as 25-year-old Gregory Lemont Bradley, of Duluth and the driver of the car was 23-year-old Lexi Nicole Valvo, according to a police report. The two had been dating at the time of the alleged kidnapping, Officer Adam Ottillo said at a Wednesday hearing in Gwinnett County Municipal Court.
The couple shouted for Bradley to leave the woman alone, but he told them, “There is nothing to see here,” according to the police report. The couple followed Bradley and Valvo down Interstate 85 and the husband called 911.
Bradley and Valvo eventually stopped in a neighborhood and switched seats. The couple lost sight of their car shortly after.
Police were soon called to a Marriott hotel in Duluth, where the victim had been dropped off. She told police that Bradley, her ex boyfriend, had “kidnapped, strangled and assaulted” her, according to a report. At Wednesday’s hearing, police did not give a motive for the kidnapping or a reason for the victim to be left at the hotel.
Within an hour, officers saw Bradley and Valvo driving in a Buford subdivision, the report says. When officers caught up with them, only Valvo was in the car. She was searched and arrested. At the time, Valvo was charged with obstruction, possession of a schedule IV controlled substance and marijuana possession. A kidnapping charge was added on April 18, jail records show.
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Officers called in a K-9 unit to help search for Bradley. Construction workers nearby told officers that they saw a man matching Bradley’s description running by a sound wall near I-85, throwing things out of his pockets. Officers found Bradley at a Krystal restaurant. He ran but was soon caught.
Bradley was charged with kidnapping, aggravated assault, willful obstruction of law enforcement and possession of marijuana with intent to distribute. He was also served with warrants for armed robbery and aggravated sexual battery steming from a 2017 incident.
Those warrants allege he forcibly searched a pregnant woman’s bra and genitals for money he thought she stole, and forced the woman’s boyfriend to strip naked before stealing his phone, wallet and shoes.
Bradley is being held at the Gwinnett County Detention Center without bond. Valvo has been released on $11,200 bond.
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