FORMAN, N.D. (KFGO) – A man from Havana, North Dakota is jailed in Wahpeton for kidnapping a bartender and holding her for about six hours Thursday morning.
Sargent County Sheriff Travis Paeper said Ryan Bergh, 47, took the woman at gunpoint from a bar in Forman around 2 a.m., drove her into the country and threatened to rape her.
Eventually, Paeper said the woman and Bergh agreed that they should drive to the sheriff’s home. Paeper said he awoke to the woman screaming for help and his name.
“She was in my home, screaming for help,” Paeper said. “I was a little groggy when I got up and tried to get my wits. [I] went downstairs. She was holding the handgun that he used to abduct her.”
The woman told Paeper that Bergh threatened to rape her if she didn’t perform sexual acts with him.
“Thankfully, the victim was able to keep her wits and she was strong-willed and, somehow, she convinced her assailant to bring her into town,” Paeper said.
Paeper called a deputy and they found Bergh in his front yard where he gave himself up.
Bergh is facing charges that include kidnapping, felonious restraint, assault and terrorizing. bond is set at $100,000.
Paeper said the woman was shaken up and while there was a struggle when she was abducted, she was not seriously hurt.
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