THOUSAND OAKS : Motorist Briefly Kidnaped Near Mall

Police are investigating the apparent kidnaping of a Ventura man by an emotionally distraught gunman Thursday night outside The Oaks mall.

The unidentified gunman did not demand money or harm Donnie Paulin, 29, before jumping from the victim’s car, said Detective Joe Braga of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department.

The kidnaper jumped into the part-time security guard’s car and ordered him to drive from the mall parking lot, Braga said. They drove about six miles along a circuitous route--west on Hillcrest Drive, north on Lynn Road to Olsen Road, then south on Moorpark Road to near the Lucky grocery store at the Wilbur Road intersection, authorities said.

“All of a sudden he just jumped out of the car when the victim was at a slow pace,” Braga said. “Supposedly the suspect was incoherent and crying a lot and didn’t speak any English. . . . We don’t have any rhyme or reason” for why the incident occurred.

A police search failed to find the fleeing gunman, and there were no witnesses to the alleged kidnaping, Braga said.

Paulin described his abductor as a dark-haired man, goateed man about 25 years old, 5 feet, 6 inches tall and weighing 150 pounds. He has a teardrop tattoo under his right eye and another tattoo on his right hand.