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Sycamore Township abduction wasn't random, sheriff's office says

Posted at 7:52 AM, Nov 18, 2017
and last updated 2017-11-18 08:41:10-05

SYCAMORE TOWNSHIP, Ohio -- Two men took a third man at gunpoint from his apartment complex Friday afternoon, the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office said.

Nathaniel Potter, 26, and Roman Potter, 23, are charged with kidnapping, abduction, aggravated robbery and extortion. 

According to the sheriff's office, one of them lured Bowen Zheng from his apartment on Kugler Mill Road by telling Zheng his car was illegally parked.

The kidnappers later asked Zheng's family for money or drugs, the sheriff's office said. 

Detectives found Zheng's vehicle in an apartment parking lot on Wunder Avenue, in Cincinnati's Westwood neighborhood.

The sheriff's office said Zheng was in the back sat, bound with duct tape and with a hood covering his head. He wasn't seriously hurt.

The Potters were in the driver and passenger seats, the sheriff's office said. Investigators think the Potters targeted Zheng.

No information on an arraignment hearing was available Saturday morning.