Tustin : Ex-Boyfriend Booked in Abduction of Woman

A Tustin woman was rescued unharmed near Blythe early Saturday after being kidnaped in Orange County by her former boyfriend from Colorado, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department reported.

The kidnap victim was Dawn E. Meredith, 26, Sheriff’s Lt. Tom Conner said. Conner said the man accused of kidnaping her was arrested when Meredith was rescued. The suspect, identified as Richard Lee Tomaskovic, 39, of Lakewood, Colo., was returned to Orange County and booked into County Jail on suspicion of kidnaping.

Conner said Meredith was “forcibly kidnaped” at 12:20 p.m. Friday from a parking lot in the 23000 block of El Toro Road in El Toro, near where she worked. Conner said the young woman had been talking in the parking lot with Tomaskovic, who was identified as her former boyfriend. Conner said Tomaskovic forced Meredith into a car and drove off.

Tomaskovic telephoned a friend of Meredith and told him that Meredith was being driven to Ohio, Conner said. The friend notified authorities, and a nationwide kidnap alert was broadcast, Conner said.

But early Saturday morning, Meredith was able to get to a telephone at a rest area on Interstate 10 near Blythe, Conner said. He said she was able to communicate that she had been kidnaped and that she was being driven to Colorado, not to Ohio.

Conner said that Blythe police were notified of the call, and a short time later officers stopped the car in which Meredith was being driven eastward on Interstate-10. The rescue occurred about 2:10 a.m. Saturday, Conner said.

He said Tomaskovic was arrested without incident.