A man has been charged in connection with the alleged Jan. 19 kidnapping and assault of a Maple Ridge teenager.

Ridge Meadows RCMP said Ian James William Campbell, 25, has been charged with kidnapping, producing an imitation firearm, choking, assault, assault with a weapon, unlawful confinement, and auto theft.

Campbell made his first court appearance Thursday and is currently being held in custody by Ridge Meadows RCMP.

He was arrested Tuesday night in Vancouver near West Pender and Richards Street after a teenage girl was assaulted in Maple Ridge.

The girl was standing outside Westgate Centre at around 8 p.m. Saturday when a man asked her for help getting his car started, according to police.

When she agreed, the man allegedly pulled out a gun and forced her to drive him to a secluded location in her own car, where he physically attacked and beat her.

The teen managed to escape and the suspect drove off in the victim’s car.

The girl sustained non-life threatening injuries in the attack, and was taken to hospital. She has since been released.

After authorities issued a media release about the attack, several other women reported similar situations where a man asked them for assistance.

Campbell’s arrest came soon after surveillance photos were released and tips from the public came in.

He previously came into conflict with the law when he rammed a stolen SUV into several parked cars in 2005.

A New Westminster Police officer opened fire at the vehicle, killing passenger Kyle Tait in a high-profile case that spawned a coroner’s inquest.

Campbell was convicted of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, possession of stolen property and operating a vehicle in police pursuit. He spent nearly four years in jail.

SFU criminology professor Robert Gordon said jail time doesn’t always deter criminals from committing more crimes once they’re released.

“The probability of reoffending tends to be greater than the probability of not reoffending,” he said. “Correctional centres now are very much geared towards incapacitation rather than rehabilitation.”

Gordon said upon release from prison, there is a wider range of rehabilitative programming for criminals such as sex offenders than there is for violent offenders.

With a report from CTV British Columbia's Shannon Paterson