A Clermont man was arrested by the Polk County Sheriff's Office on Tuesday, April 28, 2026, after a 911 caller reported hearing screams from the back of a van. 

The call was received by the PCSO's Emergency Communications Center at about 6:41 am.  The caller provided a tag number for the white Ford van that was traveling on US 27 near Sand Mine Road in the Davenport area.

A PCSO deputy located the van at a fire station at 50945 US 27; a man was standing outside of the van while a woman could be heard screaming from within.

The man was identified as 44-year-old David Benjamin Ritchie of Clermont. Inside of the vehicle was a female adult relative of RItchie's.

The victim told the deputy that she willingly spent the night with Ritchie in the van, but when she woke up, he refused to take her home or let her out of the van, and he also threatened to give her a black eye. 

David Ritchie was taken into custody and transported to the Sheriff's Processing Center where he was charged with: Kidnapping (F1) and Assault (M2). 

Ritchie also had active arrest warrants out of Lake County for: Battery by Strangulation, Aggravated Battery on a Pregnant Woman, and Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon.