An Oregon man who authorities said kidnapped a woman and attacked her in his car before she summoned help by kicking the horn has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Douglas Lawrence Braaten, 62, pleaded guilty in March to first-degree sexual abuse and attempted first-degree kidnapping. He was sentenced Wednesday in Multnomah County Circuit Court.
On March 6, 2018, Braaten was at a Portland 7-Eleven when he offered a woman a ride home, The Oregonian reported, citing an arrest affidavit. Braaten and the woman didn't know each other, according to the affidavit.
When the woman realized Braaten wasn't taking her where she wanted to go, she texted 911, saying, "I need help, I'm being kidnapped," KPTV-TV reported. The woman also called 911, and while she didn't talk to anyone, a sheriff's deputy was able to use her cellphone signal to track her and Braaten's location, the affidavit said.
A sheriff’s deputy found that Braaten had pulled his Dodge Durango SUV into the parking lot of a post office in Bridal Veil, a town outside Portland, authorities said. When the woman saw the lights of the deputy’s patrol vehicle, she kicked the horn to alert the deputy to the vehicle, according to the affidavit.
Braaten was in the process of sexually assaulting the woman when the deputy found them, the deputy wrote in the affidavit.
Judge Leslie Bottomly gave Braaten a chance to make a statement in court Wednesday, but he declined.
Braaten’s defense attorney, Lynne Dickison, told The Oregonian of her client, “He feels very badly about what occurred.”
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