Arizona man facing kidnapping charges in Massachusetts

DUDLEY, Mass. (AP) - A trucker from Arizona is facing charges in Massachusetts for allegedly kidnapping and threatening a woman he met on a dating website.

Lester Richmond Jr. was held on $2,000 bail after pleading not guilty Tuesday.

The Telegram & Gazette reports that the 27-year-old Richmond, of Waddell, Arizona, was arrested Monday at a Sturbridge hotel after the woman texted a friend to say she was being held against her will.

Authorities say after meeting on a dating website, the woman agreed to go with him on a trucking haul to Alabama.

Instead, she alleges, he drove to other states, threatened to drop her off in the middle of nowhere and told her he knew people in the Mafia who would hurt her.

Richmond told police the entire trip was consensual.

Information from: Telegram & Gazette (Worcester, Mass.), http://www.telegram.com