An Augusta man was arrested Friday after a woman in his vehicle indicated to a nearby Hallowell police offer that she needed help.

Scott Palmer, 51, was charged in connection with the incident.

Police Officer Johnny Narvaez was on patrol shortly before 9 p.m. near the Vaughan Woods parking lot on Litchfield Road, when he saw a parked Ford utility vehicle in the lot with a man and woman inside.

When Narvaez questioned the passengers, he said the woman turned to him and mouthed she needed help multiple times while the male driver was looking down at his phone.

Narvaez then asked the man and woman to step out of the vehicle.

The woman later said she had been driven around the Hallowell area as an unwilling passenger and she feared for her life, according to police.

The man had also reportedly acted in an intimidating manner toward the woman and tried to force her to leave the car to engage in sexual activity in the woods.

The driver was later identified as Palmer, who is on probation following a gross sexual assault conviction. He was arrested on charges of kidnapping, criminal restraint and assault.

Palmer was taken to the Kennebec County jail in Augusta, where he was initially held on $100,000 bail.

HOW TO GET HELP

IF YOU or someone you know has experienced sexual violence, you can call the statewide Sexual Assault Crisis and Support Line at 1-800-871-7741 for free and confidential help 24 hours a day.

TO LEARN more about sexual violence prevention and response in Maine, visit the Maine Coalition Against Sexual Assault website at mecasa.org.

FOR MORE information about mental health services in Maine, visit the website for the state’s chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness at www.namimaine.org.