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Matthew Shane Merrill, 21, was arrested Tuesday morning, according to Capt. James Bauman of the Lake County Sheriff's Office.
Bauman said Merrill was booked at the Lake County Jail on felony charges of kidnapping, false imprisonment, rape, destroying a communications device and misdemeanor spousal battery.
On Tuesday at about 11 a.m. deputies responded to a residence on Marine View Road in Hidden Valley Lake on a report of a kidnapping and rape, Bauman said.
He said a 22-year-old Hidden Valley Lake woman reported she had just fled from the suspect and that he was still driving around in the area in a blue Mazda sedan.
When the first deputy arrived in the area, he immediately spotted Merrill's vehicle in the area
of Marine View Drive and Deer Hill Road, according to Bauman.
After failing to yield to the deputy’s attempt to stop him for several blocks, Merrill was eventually stopped and detained. Bauman said Merrill had a moderate injury to his head that indicated he had been in some kind of altercation.
Deputies contacted the victim at her home a short distance away. Bauman said the woman also had some minor injuries indicating she had been in an altercation.
Bauman said the woman reported that she and Merrill had a previous dating relationship and he had invited her the night before, to go to the Twin Pine Casino bar. She accepted but when they got there she asked him to take her home and he refused.
After having a drink or two together at the bar, they left the casino at about 10 p.m. but instead of taking her home as she again had asked, he took her to his home on Greenridge Road, after driving her around Hidden Valley Lake for several hours, Bauman said.
The two reportedly argued while in Merrill’s bedroom and at one point, Merrill reportedly broke a cell phone the woman was going to use to call 911 and threw her shoes out of a window to prevent her from leaving the house, Bauman reported.
The arguing apparently continued throughout the night, Bauman said, until Merrill allegedly assaulted the woman and then held the victim down on his bed and forced her to have sex with him.
When Merrill fell asleep after the alleged rape, the victim sneaked out of the house and walked to her own home on Marine View Drive, arriving at about 4 a.m. Bauman said Merrill showed up at her house later that morning and the arguing resumed, with both parties hitting each other.
At one point, Merrill took the woman's car keys in another apparent attempt to keep her from leaving. Bauman said the woman was able to get her keys back and she struck Merrill on the head with them, causing a laceration.
He said the victim was eventually able to leave and go to her mother’s house a short distance away and call the sheriff’s office.
Merrill remains in the Lake County Jail with bail set at $250,000. Bauman said the Lake County Superior Court issued an emergency protection order keeping Merrill away from the victim.
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