September 10, 2015
A Virginia man faces up to 35 years in prison after pleading guilty Thursday to kidnapping a woman in Philadelphia and taking her to Maryland before federal agents intervened, the United States Department of Justice announced.
On November 2, 2014, at around 9:40 p.m., 37-year-old Delvin Barnes violently grabbed a 22-year-old woman from a sidewalk as she was walking home in the area of 100 W. Coulter Street in Philadelphia. The victim was forced down the street and into Barnes' car. She managed to strike Barnes in the head with a hammer, but he threatened to kill her if she did not stop fighting.
Barnes bound the victim by her wrists, placed her in the trunk of his car and drove down to Maryland. Three days later, on November 5, federal agents rescued the victim and arrested Barnes in Jessup, Maryland. The victim positively identified Barnes as her abductor.
The case was investigated jointly by the FBI, the Philadelphia Police Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and the U.S. Marshal's Service, with assistance from the Charles City County Sheriff's Office and the Kent County Sheriff's Office. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jeanine Linehan.
Barnes is scheduled for sentencing on January 6, 2016.
