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2 Belmont Abbey baseball players robbed, kidnapped at gunpoint

GASTON COUNTY, N.C. — Three people have been arrested after deputies said two Belmont Abbey College baseball players were robbed and kidnapped Monday night at a Gaston County apartment complex.

According to deputies, 23-year-old Damarcus Dixon and 21-year-old Natori Benton forced two students into a 2011 Lexus -- owned by one the students -- at gunpoint and dropped them off on Gastonia Highway in Lincoln County.

[ALSO READ: Charlotte teen found guilty in 2017 killing of college baseball player]

The students were not harmed.

(Dixon, Jackson, Benton)

Deputies said they later found the Lexus in Lincolnton with 21-year-old Shamari Jackson, who was charged with one felony count each of a stolen vehicle and possession of a stolen firearm.

Investigators also said they found cash, electronic equipment and a shotgun stolen in the robbery.

Benton and Dixon were charged by Belmont Police Tuesday with two counts each of kidnapping and armed robbery, one count each of possession of a stolen firearm, possession of a firearm by a felon and possession of a stolen motor vehicle.