Ruston Police arrested a Florida man Sunday after he was found in the company of a 14-year-old girl he had taken from her home in Texas.
About 9:30 p.m. Sunday night, Lt. Thomas Bailey found a suspicious vehicle parked in a no parking area on West Kentucky Avenue at Chautauqua Road. Daniel M. Martinez, 21, of Miramar, Florida, and the 14-year-old were found inside.
According to both parties, they coordinated through online apps and by phone for Martinez to drive from Florida to Texas to pick up the girl and her belongings. Martinez apparently did so without speaking to a parent or guardian and removed the girl from the home intending to take her to Florida. They said they stopped in Ruston to sleep.
The two were taken to the Ruston Police Department for further investigation. Martinez was given his cell phone to unlock to obtain information relative to the case but instead, he smashed it with his hands preventing police from obtaining the information.
Martinez was booked at the Lincoln Parish Detention Center for simple kidnapping and obstruction of justice. Detention Center records indicate the kidnapping charge has been amended to contributing to the delinquency of a juvenile. Bail is set at $15,000 and Martinez remains in custody.
This information has been provided by a law enforcement agency as public information. Persons named or shown in photographs or video as suspects in a criminal investigation, or arrested and charged with a crime, have not been convicted of any criminal offense and are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
