Cops: Phila. abduction suspect on suicide watch
PHILADELPHIA -- The man accused of grabbing a Philadelphia woman off the street this week and who has a history of violence, choking his ex-wife a decade ago and allegedly abducting a 16-year-old Virginia girl just last month with the intention of killing her, has been put under suicide watch, authorities say.
The suspected kidnapper, Delvin Barnes, has reportedly confessed to the abduction Sunday of 22-year-old Carlesha Freeland-Gaither, sources told CBS Philadelphia. According to court documents, he reportedly told authorities he didn't know Freeland-Gaither, whose abduction was captured on surveillance video seen nationwide.
The Baltimore County Department of Corrections told reporters Friday that Barnes, who was captured in Maryland, had been taken to Virginia overnight. He was booked Friday on charges of attempted murder, sexual assault, kidnapping and assault at the Riverside Regional Jail in Prince George.
Lt. Laura Gray said Barnes was put on suicide watch shortly after being booked. The decision was made by the medical staff.
A court appearance is reportedly set for next Wednesday.
At the time of his arrest in the Philadelphia kidnapping, Barnes was also wanted in connection with the abduction of a 16-year-old Richmond girl who authorities say was hit in the head with a shovel, stuffed into the trunk of a car and taken to a weathered mobile home 30 miles southeast of Richmond. There, Barnes ordered the teen to take off her clothes, set them on fire and doused her in bleach and gasoline, according to Sheriff's Capt. Jayson Crawley of Charles City County, Va.
The teenager managed to escape as Barnes was supposedly digging her intended grave.
A month later, Freeland-Gaither fought her attacker even while bound - and left a breadcrumb for police in the form of her cellphone.
"She's really a very, very strong young woman and just very, very lucky to have survived this," Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey told The Associated Press on Thursday, a day after federal agents rescued Freeland-Gaither and arrested her alleged abductor.
Authorities identified Barnes as the assailant in the abduction of Freeland-Gaither through DNA obtained from the victim in Virginia. They also got a picture of Barnes' vehicle from a traffic camera - and that turned out to be the big break that helped police find her.
"She was completely hysterical and emotionally drained and was finally relieved knowing that she was safe," said Tim Jones, ATF agent in charge in Lanham, Maryland.
Agents with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives found Barnes' vehicle - its rear window kicked out by Freeland-Gaither - on a road in Jessup, Md., with Barnes and the kidnapped woman lying next to each other in the back seat. After her rescue, she was taken to a hospital but was soon reunited with her mother and other family members, who took her home to Philadelphia.
"Carlesha said to thank everybody that was out there," her cousin Cinquetta Barfield told CBS Philadelphia on her behalf. "The news, the media, the one that reported it, that called the cops twice, the ATF, the FBI...She said thank you so much. Without you, we couldn't have had her back and that was the most important thing."
Barnes was released a year ago after serving eight years in prison for a 2005 assault on his estranged wife and her family in Philadelphia. Barnes beat and choked her, punched her mother in the face and hit her father in the head with a glass bowl, court records show.
Pennsylvania's parole board repeatedly denied Barnes early release because it said he lacked remorse and posed a threat to the community.
On Thursday, a Maryland judge ordered Barnes sent to Virginia following a hearing in which he answered yes-and-no questions and did not have an attorney with him.
Ramsey said it might be a while before Barnes faces justice in Pennsylvania. But that hardly mattered to a relieved Philadelphia police chief.
"He's not going to see the light of day," Ramsey said. "He's off the street and he can't harm anybody else ever again, hopefully."