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Bail Set At $3 Million For Ryan Storm, Charged With Kidnapping, Tying Up, And Sexually Assaulting Woman In Lake Barrington

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Ryan Storm, the man accused of kidnapping, beating, tying up, and sexually assaulting a woman in Lake Barrington, has been ordered held on $3 million bail.

Storm is charged with three counts of aggravated sexual assault and one count each of aggravated kidnapping, criminal sexual assault, aggravated battery, aggravated criminal sexual abuse, and unlawful restraint.

He was arrested Wednesday morning after a six-hour manhunt.

Storm
Ryan Storm is charged with three counts of aggravated sexual assault and one count each of aggravated kidnapping, criminal sexual assault, aggravated battery, aggravated criminal sexual abuse, and unlawful restraint. (Credit: Lake County Sheriff)

Prosecutors said Storm ran away when a friend found him in the garage of a commercial building where he works in Lake Barrington, off of Northwest Highway and Pepper Road. His ex-girlfriend was also there, beaten and hanging from a forklift.

"A 20-year-old female had been held against her will; kidnapped, choked several times, and tied up to a piece of heavy equipment with her arms above her head so she was unable to free herself. She was sexually assaulted She was nude when the individuals arrived who called 911," said Lake County Sheriff's Lt. Christopher Covelli.

Prosecutors said Storm and the victim used to date, and met up in a parking lot in Palatine, where they talked for about 30 minutes.

When the victim started to leave, he grabbed her from behind as she was getting into her car, and tried to kiss her. He then grabbed her neck and choked her, causing her to pass out, according to prosecutors.

Storm then dragged the victim to his car, banging her head as he pushed her into the passenger seat, facing her so she was sitting on the floorboard.

He then drove to Lake Barrington, where she grabbed the steering wheel, prosecutors said. Storm then hit her in the face, choked her, and threatened to snap her neck. The victim passed out again, and when she woke up, she was in the garage where Storm works.

Prosecutors said her hands were tied and she was gagged with cloth and tape. Storm had cut her clothes off with a box cutter. He then grabbed a wooden paddle-like object, and began to hit her very hard on the buttocks.

Storm then urinated on her, sexually assaulted her with his fingers and a beer bottle, and then hung her by a forklift, tied by her hands, according to prosecutors.

Eventually, she heard someone outside the garage, and began to scream for help, prompting Storm to threaten to break her neck, prosecutors said.

That's when a friend of Storm's walked in, and Storm fled the scene.

The friend had gone to the business to check on Storm, after receiving a strange call from him, according to the sheriff's office. That friend called 911 after finding the victim tied up in the garage.

Authorities said that call may have saved the victim's life. She's being treated right now at a local hospital.

Sheriff's deputies and canine officers spent several hours searching for Storm after finding the victim at his workplace around 2 a.m. on Wednesday.

Around 8 a.m. on Wednesday, authorities were notified he was in Fox River Grove. Deputies from Lake and McHenry counties; police officers from Fox River Grove, Cary, Barrington, and Barrington Hills responded to the 900 block of Ski Hill Road, where Storm had been spotted, and a Fox River Grove officer chased Storm down when the officer spotted him running away.

He's being held at the Lake County Jail on $3 million bail.

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