A Waldorf man is being held without bond after his arrest Aug. 2 on charges that he forced a 24-year-old woman at gunpoint into a patch of woods and sexually assaulted her the day before.

Darvin Craig Brooks Jr., 23, has been charged with first-degree sex offense, first-degree assault, armed robbery, kidnapping and use of a firearm in commission of a violent crime after police identified him as the man who bummed a ride from a Waldorf gas station employee before abducting her and assaulting her in the woods off St. Charles Parkway.

The woman told police that she was closing up around 12:15 a.m. Aug. 1 when she was approached by a man whom she knew as one of the station’s frequent customers.

The woman said he asked for a ride home and she agreed, but as they drove toward his home the man pulled a gun and forced the woman to drive to a business in the 3000 block of St. Charles Parkway.

He then ordered the woman from the car and into the woods, where he sexually assaulted her, police said. After the assault, the man fled and the woman called police.

Detectives identified Brooks as a suspect and obtained an arrest warrant.

Investigators executed a search warrant at Brooks’ home, where they found a handgun that might have been used in the assault.

Detectives and officers with the Charles County Sheriff’s Office’s Neighborhood Enforcement Team found and arrested Brooks later that day.

Brooks was ordered held without bond Monday at a bail review hearing.

Detective K. Klezia is investigating.

JEFF NEWMAN