CLINTON -- A Clinton man was arrested Friday and charged with kidnapping, attempted kidnapping and unlawful sexual touching for allegedly assaulting a woman to whom he offered a ride on Neck Road in Benton Sept. 28.

Brock A. Dunton Sr., 43, of 22 Spring St., Clinton, was arrested at 1 p.m. at his home and taken to Kennebec County Jail in Augusta, according to Police Chief Charlie Runnels.

Runnels said police solved the case using information they received from people who read an Oct. 5 Morning Sentinel story about the assault.

"Basically, I got a number of phone calls about the article and one of them panned out," he said.

According to that story, a woman on Sept. 28 was walking along the Neck Road in Benton, en route to Clinton from Fairfield, and a man driving a full-sized, green pickup truck pulled up beside her and offered her a ride.

She did not know him but accepted the ride; the man started asking her about her personal life and whether she was single, Runnels said at the time. The man drove past the address in Clinton where the woman said she was going, pulled the truck over and then hit her twice in the face and tried to rip her clothing off. He also bit her twice, according to police.

At the time, the man was described as being heavy-set and weighing about 250 pounds with short to medium-length, dark, greasy hair and a day's growth of beard. The woman further described him as being about 40 years old, wearing a ring on one hand and having a deep voice. She told police he smoked full-flavor cigarettes and that objects were hanging from the truck's rear-view mirror.

The woman reported her attacker tried to sexually assault her, but she escaped and reported the incident to police.

Runnels declined to identify the woman.

"I'm still not releasing and I'm not going to release the name of the victim until it becomes public in court," he said Friday.

Dunton was arrested Friday on a warrant.

District Attorney Evert Fowle said Friday that Dunton will probably appear before a Kennebec County Superior Court justice at 1 p.m. Monday.

A jail spokeswoman said Friday afternoon that Dunton was still at the facility and his bail was $10,000 cash.

Amy Calder -- 861-9247

acalder@centralmaine.com