LAKE CITY, Fla. — A 29-year-old man faces kidnapping charges after a person accused him of driving them against their will from Tampa to Lake City on New Year's Eve after meeting on an online dating app.
Officers with the Lake City Police Department were dispatched to Brookdale Drive on Monday at 7:19 p.m. after receiving reports of a kidnapping.
Officers discovered a victim who said they met Maxim Dowd, 29, on an online dating app where they agreed to meet in person somewhere in Tampa on New Year's Eve.
The victim lives in Tampa, according to police.
After the victim met Dowd, they agreed to go with Dowd to a convenience store in Tampa.
Once they left the store, the victim asked Dowd to take them home.
Instead of taking the victim home, police said Dowd made excuses and drove the victim to multiple places in Central Florida attempting to meet other people at each location.
The victim continued to ask Dowd to take them home, which he refused once arriving in Lake City, roughly 175 miles away from where the victim was taken against their will.
Police said once in Lake City, the victim was able to alert the resident of the home they were driven to, and contacted law enforcement.
Dowd was arrested Monday on charges of kidnapping and false imprisonment, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of more than one valid driver's license and resisting an officer without violence.
He was taken to the Columbia County Detention Center and is being held on no bond.