By CHAD KLIMACK, The (Ohio) Advocate
PATASKALA -- A man allegedly abducted a 17-year-old Watkins Memorial High School student from a parking lot near her home early Tuesday and held her at gunpoint as she drove the back roads of Central Ohio, authorities said.
“This was a totally random incident, which is rare,” Pataskala Police Lt. Michael Boals said this morning.
Jamie L. Cottrill, 20, eventually dropped off the girl, who was unharmed, in Stoutsville, southwest of Lancaster in Fairfield County, Boals said. The girl did not know Cottrill, police said.
Cottrill, whose last known address is in Amanda in Fairfield County, was arrested in Fairfield County during a traffic stop between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. Tuesday night, Boals said.
Police picked Cottrill up on a robbery warrant, however authorities expect to file additional charges -- including abduction -- against Cottrill, Boals said. He was scheduled for a bond hearing today in Licking County Municipal Court.
Cottrill allegedly approached the girl as she left her South Township Road home at 7:34 a.m. Tuesday, police said. She was headed to pick up a friend, then drive to Watkins Memorial. The girl did not know the man, police said.
However, as the girl attempted to get into her Mazda 626, Cottrill allegedly confronted her, Boals said. He was allegedly armed with what the girl described as a small revolver, and asked her to get inside her car as he climbed in with her, Boals said.
“He made the comment if she tried anything funny, he would shoot her,” Boals said.
After leaving Pataskala, Cottrill allegedly forced the girl to drive back roads she didn’t know, police said. Cottrill used the victim’s cell phone to call the friend the victim was supposed to drive to school and told her the victim would not pick her up because she was busy, police said.
The friend then called the victim’s mother, and the mother called the victim’s cell phone, police said. The victim cried on the phone, told her mom she loved her and that she didn’t know where she was, according to police. The mother called the police, then tried to call her daughter again, but the phone had been turned off, police said.
The pair eventually arrived in Stoutsville, where the man made the girl stop at a convenience store and withdraw $40 from a bank machine using her ATM card, Boals said.
Cottrill told the girl to stop at a home in Stoutsville, but whomever he was looking for was not home, so the pair continued driving, police said. Cottrill eventually had the girl drop him off in downtown Stoutsville, according to police.
At 8:30 a.m., the 17-year-old drove into Pickaway County where she stopped at an elementary school and contacted law enforcement officials.
Police then began searching for Cottrill.
Many Stoutsville residents were unnerved by all the police activity. Stacey Balsimo, 35, wound up canceling a shopping trip to Wal-Mart with her sister, Pam Ringhiser, 48, Columbus, where Balsimo planned to buy a birthday present for her husband.
Instead, Balsimo and Ringhiser locked all the doors to Balsimo’s home and stayed inside with their children.
“I didn’t know anything until a neighbor called and said the sheriff called and said to lock our doors,” Balsimo said. “Nothing ever happens in Stoutsville. ... I locked the doors and grabbed a knife.”
Pataskala detectives interviewed Cottrill at the Fairfield County jail after arresting him late Tuesday evening, Boals said. Cottrill was then transferred to the Licking County jail.