Silverdale — Two Poulsbo firefighters went above and beyond their duties last week when they found themselves in the midst of an alleged roadside assault and kidnapping.

Firefighter Bruce Lowrie and paramedic Frank Leamer were returning from dropping two patients off at a hospital in Bremerton when they intervened in a violent encounter between a woman and her ex-boyfriend.

Earlier that evening, David Manuel Jimenez, 28, of Silverdale, allegedly arrived at the home of his ex-girlfriend, unexpectedly, and began arguing with and punching her. He then allegedly forced her into his car and drove away.

Jimenez continued his assault while driving the car, punching the woman and slamming her head into the dashboard — according to the sheriff’s report on the incident — and said he was going to “bury her.”

Jimenez then pulled the car over and ordered the ex-girlfriend to retrieve a laptop that was inside the car, or else he would “crack her over the head” with a bottle he held in his hand, according to the report.

The woman, instead, put the car into reverse and jumped into the back seat as it accelerated backwards. She exited the car and ran onto the side of Highway 303, where Lowrie and Leamer found her near the Ridgetop Boulevard exit.

“I saw the silhouette of two people running around a car,” he said. “We could tell something was wrong because they were running into oncoming traffic.”

They heard the woman scream for help and pulled over.

Lowrie and Leamer called for assistance from law enforcement as the woman ran up a nearby hill and entered into the back and a stranger’s car. Jimenez pursued close behind and began pulling her out of the car.

Lowrie, however, was close behind the attacker. As Lowrie approached he called out to Jimenez and informed him that police were on their way. This caused Jimenez to abandon his assault and run back to his car. He quickly drove off, according to a report from the Poulsbo Fire Department.

“At the time, I wanted to defuse the situation,” Lowrie said. “My main concern was the safety of the woman.”

The woman, 29, was treated in the back of the paramedic unit and transported to a local hospital. She had bruising around her eyes and a large bump on the back of her right hand.

Kitsap County Sheriff’s deputies caught up with Jimenez later that evening in Bremerton. The woman had dropped her cell phone while in the car and law enforcement officials were able to track it to a home in West Bremerton.

With the assistance of Bremerton police, Jimenez was arrested at 1:08 a.m. Sept. 29 and booked into Kitsap County Jail. His bail was set at $350,000.

Jimenez told officers that he found a video of the woman performing a sexual act on his best friend, and reportedly admitted to threatening to kill her and violating a no-contact order she had filed against him. He denied hitting her, according to the sheriff’s report. He reportedly said his intention was to scare her.

Jimenez now faces felony charges in Kitsap County District Court of violating the no-contact order and harassment with a threat to kill, with a special allegation of domestic violence.

Jimenez’s ex-girlfriend filed a no-contact order against him in September, citing previous incidents of domestic violence.