A Roseburg man is charged with harassment and unauthorized use of a vehicle after allegedly slapping a Baker City woman, then driving away in her car, which he crashed and abandoned on Sunday, Nov. 5.

Ryan Scott Richmond, 28, was arrested about 3:16 p.m. on Sunday in La Grande, according to an Oregon State Police report.

Richmond was taken to the Baker County Jail, where bail was set at $30,000. Richmond is scheduled to be in Baker County Circuit Court for a preliminary hearing on Nov. 13 at 1:15 p.m.

The investigation started just before noon on Sunday when a Baker City woman called 911 and said she had been assaulted on Interstate 84 near Milepost 294, about 10 miles north of Baker City.

According to a report from OSP Sr. Trooper Edward Mercado, the woman was driving with Richmond, who was a passenger, when they had an argument about their recent relationship breakup.

The woman said she parked on the right shoulder of the freeway and left the car. She said Richmond followed her and tried to stop her from walking away.

They both got back into the car, the woman sitting in the driver’s seat and Richmond in the passenger seat. Richmond then slapped the woman with the back of his hand, after which the woman walked away. She was picked up by an OSP trooper at the Baker Valley Rest Area.

Police arrested Richmond in La Grande after he crashed the woman’s car and left it.

A commercial truck driver later called 911 to say he had watched the incident the woman described. The driver said he was traveling westbound on the freeway when he saw a man sitting in a car hit a women in the face with the back of his hand.

Baker County District Attorney Greg Baxter said he is reviewing the case, and there could be additional charges against Richmond.