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Philly man charged in 2 Center City kidnappings

A federal grand jury charged a Philadelphia man Thursday with kidnapping two people in November in order to force them to make withdrawals from cash machines.

A federal grand jury charged a Philadelphia man Thursday with kidnapping two people in November in order to force them to make withdrawals from cash machines.

Nathaniel Rodriguez, 40, was arrested Nov. 12 after police used a victim's cellphone to trace his vehicle. Rodriguez allegedly kidnapped a 28-year-old doctor, identified in court documents as P.M.N.L, on Nov. 11 as she was on her way to work at Pennsylvania Hospital in Center City.

At the time of Rodriguez's arrest, police sources told that Daily News that Rodriguez accosted her in a parking garage elevator on the 800 block of Delancey Street, flashed a gun, and led the doctor back to her car.

After driving her to an Exxon gas station in Port Richmond, Rodriguez tried to get the doctor to withdraw money from an ATM inside the station's convenience store. A quick-thinking clerk became suspicious and called police. Rodriguez fled in the doctor's car, which was spotted an hour later.

According to the indictment, it wasn't the first time Rodriguez allegedly kidnapped a woman to rob her. On Nov. 6, a 30-year-old woman reported she had been walking to the hospital when a man approached her and demanded money, police said. Discovering she had no cash, Rodriguez allegedly marched her to two nearby ATMs where he forced her to withdrawal about $400. He then hailed a cab and fled.