DUI and felony criminal charges sometimes go hand-in-hand. When a person is intoxicated, he or she may be susceptible to doing things he or she would never do otherwise and may sober-up to an array of criminal charges. Things become even more complicated when a person has a criminal history. Investigators may question a suspect’s account of what happened when he or she is drunk especially when he or she has a conviction on similar charges.
That very scenario played out this week after a Chesapeake man attended a Virginia Beach flea market over the weekend. 52-year-old Ruben Torres is accused of abducting a 6-year-old boy from a church flea market while he was allegedly intoxicated.
According to WAVY.com, the flea market that the 6-year-old boy and his family attended was held in the Thalia United Methodist Church parking lot, and was organized by a local boy scout troop. The young boy allegedly wandered away from his parents at some point during their outing, and Torres, who is not acquainted with the boy’s parents, was later seen escorting the boy away from the flea market. At some point, the young boy’s parents confronted Torres and he got into his vehicle. The incident was reported and Virginia Beach police stopped Torres.
At the time of Torres’ arrest, his blood alcohol content level measured at .21 percent, which is almost three times the legal limit of .08 percent in Virginia. He was ultimately charged with abduction and DUI, and was denied bond on Wednesday at a scheduled hearing.
While Torres’ account of his activates on that Saturday morning differ from that of the Virginia Beach police, his case might be a tough one. Torres alleges that he helped a woman load a sink into her vehicle that morning. He said that the woman did have a child with her, but that he did not come into contact with any children that morning. Torres denies that the 6-year-old boy’s parents confronted him at the flea market. However, this is not Torres’ first criminal charge involving a child. He is a registered sex offender who was convicted with raping a child in Massachusetts in 1990. Torres case is still pending, and he is innocent until proven guilty.
Abduction charges are seriously prosecuted in Virginia. Under Code of Virginia 18.2-47, abduction is generally a Class 5 felony, punishable by jail time and other penalties and consequences. Under Virginia law, abduction is synonymous with kidnapping. A person is guilty of the crime of abduction if he or she transports, detains, secrets or seizes another person by force, intimidation or threat, with the intent to deprive that person of his or her liberty or to conceal that person from others. Abduction also refers to the transporting or detention of another person by threat, intimidation, or deception, with the intent to subject that person to conduct forced labor.
If you have been charged with violating Virginia criminal laws, you should immediately speak with an experienced criminal defense attorney. Contact an attorney at Garrett Law Group, PLC, today for a confidential consultation.