An Urbana man pleaded not guilty Monday to two felony charges for the alleged abduction and assault of a person.

During an arraignment hearing, Richard L. Bowser Jr., 40, pleaded not guilty to a third degree felony abduction charge and a second degree felonious assault charge.

The charges stem from alleged conduct on June 7 when the Urbana Police Division responded to a 911 distress call in the area of West Church and North High streets. A male caller told dispatch he had been assaulted in the street and dragged into an upstairs apartment at 304 W. Church St. and was being held against his will.

Officers determined which apartment the victim was being held in and when they attempted to make contact with people inside, no one would answer the door. The victim had been taken into the bathroom area after the assault and used his cell phone to notify police.

Once officers got inside the apartment, the assault victim ran from the bathroom area to officers, telling them he was the person who had been beaten and forced into the apartment. The victim sustained serious injuries to his face and head.

A case scheduling conference is scheduled for Aug. 5.

Driver sentenced in crash

A driver received a suspended jail term as part of a sentence for a traffic violation from earlier this month.

According to the Champaign County Municipal Court’s website, Brent C. Ream, 31, of Springfield, pleaded guilty to a hit skip/leaving the scene of a crash charge Monday. As part of the sentence, Ream had 177 days of a 180 day jail sentence suspended, was fined $600 and was ordered to enroll in a driver intervention program within 30 days.

On July 11, a reckless motorist was called in to the Urbana Police Division where the driver of a white Cadillac was coming into the city from South U.S. 68 and had reportedly gone left of center several times, forcing oncoming traffic to leave the roadway to avoid a crash.

Officers located and attempted to stop the vehicle near the intersection of Main and Water streets, but the driver kept going eastbound on Scioto Street before finally stopping in the 300 block.

The driver was identified as Ream and while conducting field sobriety tests at the scene, officers learned Ream had crashed into a 2004 Mustang parked in the 300 block of South Main Street.

Ream was also placed on community control for three years as part of his sentence and had his driver’s license suspended for nine months.

Failure to control, failure to maintain marked lanes and failure to wear a safety belt charges were dismissed Monday.