<p><b><i></i></b>Man Sentenced to Six Years Prison for False Imprisonment of Girlfriend</p><p></p>

Defendant Nicholas Jackson, 26 years old of Oakland, was sentenced earlier today by the Honorable John Behnke to serve six years in state prison after pleading guilty and “no contest” to charges of felony false imprisonment of his girlfriend, contempt of court, attempted second degree robbery, second degree commercial burglary, and grand theft of personal property. Additionally he admitted to having a prior “strike” offense.  

District Attorney Ravitch noted, “This was a defendant with a lengthy criminal history, and a history of assaultive behavior towards his domestic partners. We believe the prison sentence is appropriate.”

On February 1, 2021, officers were dispatched to Exchange Bank after a female handed a bank teller a note advising she was the victim of a kidnapping by her boyfriend and needed immediate law enforcement assistance. The woman’s note indicated that defendant was holding her hostage at knife-point. When officers arrived, they contacted the female and subsequently arrested defendant. While speaking with law enforcement, the victim reported that on January 22, 2021, defendant unexpectedly showed up to her home and attempted to break down her front door to gain entry into her residence. Unsuccessful in his attempts to break down the door, defendant shattered a window of the residence and climbed inside where he held the woman captive for multiple days. The victim reported that from January 22 through February 1, defendant took her phone, strangled her, punched her in the eye, threatened her with a knife, and threatened to kill her. She further reported that defendant brought her to Exchange Bank on February 1 to withdraw all of her money to hand over to him. Following defendant’s arrest, and when confronted with the victim’s allegations, the defendant attempted to hang himself in an interrogation room, but was saved by an officer who quickly cut defendant down and began rendering medical aid. 

After being transported to the Main Adult Detention Facility, defendant began calling the victim and apologizing for what he’d done to her. The defendant was on probation for a domestic violence related offense at the time of the current assault, and had suffered previous domestic violence related convictions against separate victims. 

In addition to the domestic violence conviction, on August 14^th of 2020, defendant stole multiple bottles of alcohol from local supermarkets. As he left one of the stores, he was involved in a physical confrontation with a security guard during which he flashed gang signs, brandished a replica firearm, and struck the security guard in the face. 

The case was prosecuted by DDA Alex Fisher of the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office. The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department headed the investigation.