Mar. 10—MOUNT VERNON, Mo. — A 23-year-old man from Monett waived a preliminary hearing this week on charges that he assaulted a male friend of his ex-girlfriend and kidnapped her from a grocery store parking lot in Aurora.

Nicholas R. Morris waived the hearing Thursday in Lawrence County Circuit Court and was ordered to stand trial on counts of first-degree assault and first-degree kidnapping. Judge Matthew Kasper set the defendant's initial appearance in a trial division of the court on April 10.

Morris is accused of luring his ex-girlfriend and two of her male friends to the parking lot of a grocery store in Aurora in the early morning hours of Jan. 14. A probable-cause affidavit states that they went there expecting to meet a friend and instead were ambushed by Morris in the company of several others.

The affidavit alleges that Morris tackled one of her male friends and stomped on his head several times before the victim and the other male friend fled the scene, leaving the defendant's ex-girlfriend behind. Accusing her of having a relationship with the other two men, Morris then pushed her into a pickup truck and told her she was going home with him and took her cellphone and wallet away, according to the affidavit.

The ex-girlfriend told police she objected orally to going with him but was too scared to resist physically. He then purportedly took her to his place, where he continued to accuse her of infidelity, slapped her in the face with her cellphone, pushed her down on a couch and choked her.

The affidavit states that the assault continued with the defendant punching her in the head, disrobing her and continuing to assault her.

The ordeal did not come to an end until family members of the victim showed up at his home and confronted Morris, having heard about the kidnapping from posts on Facebook. At which time, he drove her to her home and let her go, according to the affidavit.

Jeff Lehr is a reporter for The Joplin Globe.