Sex offender arrested in woman’s abduction

CROTON – State Police at Cortlandt and Beacon City Police Thursday night arrested a man who they say kidnapped a woman in a supermarket parking lot on the evening of February 26 and sexually assaulted her.

Police have charged Richard Brown, 48, of Beacon, formerly of Yonkers, with kidnapping in the second degree, robbery in the first degree and criminal sexual act in the first degree.

Brown was arrested at an acquaintance’s home in the Springvale Apartments in Cortlandt.

The investigation determined Brown kidnapped a Town of Cortlandt woman from the A&P parking lot off Route 9A in Croton on the evening of February 26, said Sr. Investigator Bruce Cuccia.

After the woman placed her groceries in her car, Brown accosted her at knifepoint, forced her into the vehicle, and drive it to a location in Putnam County where he sexually assaulted her, police said. He later released the woman. The stolen vehicle was recovered on Wednesday in Beacon by city police there.

Brown is a level three sex offender on the state’s Sex Offender Registry.