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City man kidnapped his former girlfriend, police say
Photo
Paul Henderson
By John W. Goodwin Jr.
YOUNGSTOWN
A city man faces a litany of charges after police say he kidnapped and threatened a woman who tried to end their romantic relationship.
Paul Henderson, 26, of West Chalmers Avenue, is in Mahoning County jail on charges of felonious assault, abduction, burglary, kidnapping, possessing drugs, resisting arrest, obstructing official business, aggravated menacing, criminal trespass and possession of drug paraphernalia.
According to police, Henderson’s 25-year-old former girlfriend came home at 1:30 a.m. Sunday to find Henderson standing in her South Side home. He had removed an air-conditioning unit and entered the house.
The woman told police Henderson asked her to rekindle the relationship but became angry when she refused his request. She said Henderson burned the side of her face with a small iron.
The woman said Henderson then pulled out a silver-and-black handgun and forced her into the front seat of her car. Henderson, she said, drove around the city with her at gunpoint saying, “If I can’t have you, no one can.” He also threatened to kill her in a South Side park and leave her there, the woman told police.
The woman said she ultimately agreed to go on a date with Henderson if he would allow her to go home, change clothes and tend to a few errands. She said Henderson drove to his Chalmers Avenue home and got out of the car.
The woman drove home and called police. She said Sunday’s episode is not the first time Henderson has beaten and threatened her.
Some of the charges lodged against Henderson stem from threats made against the woman while he has been incarcerated in the jail. Deputies determined that Henderson had been making threatening calls to the woman from a taped line at the lockup.