FAIRHOPE, Ala. — Police on Friday identified a suspect in the alleged kidnapping of a 16-year-old male.

Gary Jerome Douglas, 43, of Middle Street in Fairhope was arrested and charged with second-degree kidnapping and public intoxication. He was transferred from the Fairhope City Jail to the Baldwin County Corrections Center in Bay Minette on Thursday, where he was still being held under a $10,000 bond at press time.

Fairhope Police Sgt. Craig Sawyer stated in a press release that the juvenile was abducted Tuesday around 4 p.m. soon after he stepped from his vehicle in the parking lot of a business located in the 300 block of Greeno Road.

The unnamed teen told police a man stuck his hand inside his jacket as if he had a weapon and ordered the victim back to his car. Police allege the man then forced the victim to drive him to a location in Loxley, where the suspect purchased what is believed by investigators to be crack cocaine.

The victim was then allegedly forced to drive the suspect to a convenience store on Highway 98 in Daphne, where the suspect reportedly forced the victim to enter the store with him. While inside, police believe, the suspect stole several items.

He then allegedly forced the victim to drive him to another convenience store, also on Highway 98 in Daphne. While they were inside, the suspect was distracted by a clerk, according to police, and the victim was able to leave the store, get in his car and drive away.

The juvenile victim contacted a parent after his escape, who in turn notified the Fairhope Police Department. The teen described his assailant as a black male in his 40s with a small build and wearing a camouflage jumpsuit, according to police.

Investigators said they identified Douglas as the suspect, and he was located by officers and then arrested by Sgt. James Gilheart on Greeno Road shortly after 9 p.m. that day.

There were no reported injuries to either the victim or the suspect.

Douglas has a number of prior arrests and bookings, according to an online survey of Baldwin County Sheriff’s Department public records. The charges included negotiation of a worthless instrument, illegal possession of a controlled substance, tampering with evidence and public intoxication.