Man accused of assaulting and kidnapping his girlfriend in Barstow

A Barstow man was arrested after police say he assaulted and kidnapped his girlfriend this week.

Staff at a local hospital called police about 3:25 a.m. Wednesday to report a woman had arrived with injuries, according to the Barstow Police Department.

The woman told officers her boyfriend, Johnny Ray Gutierrez, 24, assaulted her, choked her, forced her into a vehicle and drove her from their apartment to a separate location, police said in a written statement.

Gutierrez eventually drove the woman home and then fled the area, police said.

The suspect could not immediately be found, but detectives spotted him later in the day sitting inside his car near the couple's apartment in the 200 block of Yucca Avenue, according to police and San Bernardino County booking records.

Gutierrez initially refused to get out of the car or talk to police but was eventually arrested. A search of his apartment turned up evidence, including a loaded 9mm handgun, law enforcement officials added.

Gutierrez was booked on suspicion of domestic assault and kidnapping, records show. He was alternatively listed in booking records as Jonny Rey Gabriel Gutierrez.

He was being held in lieu of $80,000 bail pending an arraignment hearing, which was scheduled Friday in the Victorville branch of San Bernardino County Superior Court.

This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Man accused of assaulting and kidnapping his girlfriend in Barstow