A man lures an ex-girlfriend into his car and locks the doors to prevent leaving. What crime did he commit?

• A. False imprisonment
• B. Kidnapping
• C. Robbery
• D. Assault

Answer: (A)

The main idea here is unlawful restraint of another person’s freedom—false imprisonment. By luring his ex-girlfriend into the car and then locking the doors to keep her from leaving, he intentionally restricts her movement without her consent and without any lawful justification. That fits the elements of false imprisonment: purposeful confinement of someone’s liberty. It isn’t robbery, since no property is taken; it isn’t assault, since there isn’t an action intended to injure or threaten bodily harm in a way that defines assault; and it isn’t kidnapping in this context because there’s no moving the victim to a different location—the confinement occurs by keeping her inside the car. So the best description of this act is false imprisonment.