She told him she was leaving. He held a gun to her head and told her to drive, prosecutors say

A Tacoma man faces a pair of felony charges after prosecutors say he held a gun to his ex-girlfriend’s head Wednesday and told her to drive after she broke up with him.

The 23-year-old was arraigned Thursday afternoon in Pierce County Superior Court on charges of second-degree assault and second-degree kidnapping, both with domestic violence and firearm sentencing modifiers. His bail was set at $75,000.

According to charging documents:

The woman had been dating the man a year, but she decided to leave him because he had been abusive to her.

When she finished loading up her car with her belongings, she put her 8-year-old son in the back seat and got in the driver’s seat to leave.

The man came out of the house and began berating her before sitting in the passenger seat.

He pulled out a pistol, racked it, pointed it at her head and said, “Drive,” then swore at her.

Feeling like her life was in danger, she drove.

Two blocks later, she struck a minivan, disabling both vehicles.

She got out of the car with her son, but the man stayed in it. His roommate ran up to the car and picked up his pistol, which later turned out to be stolen, then returned to the house.

That man’s girlfriend eventually persuaded the man to let police have the firearm.

Police arrested both men.

The man’s roommate has been charged with obstructing police and will be arraigned in Pierce County Superior Court on Aug. 17.

This story was originally published August 3, 2017 at 8:46 PM with the headline "She told him she was leaving. He held a gun to her head and told her to drive, prosecutors say."