By JAMES MITCHELL
Sunday Times Newspapers
LINCOLN PARK – A weekend-long search for an elderly man who was abducted from a Lincoln Park adult care facility – actions described as being “like a bad movie” by Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy – ended with the 90-year-old man back where he belongs and three men facing up to 15 years in prison.
Detroit resident Darrell Shelby Howard, 50, Ted Robert Tomes, 25 of Ypsilanti, and Tomes’ father, 54-year-old Lincoln Park resident Alfred Khattar, were arraigned Monday in Wayne County Circuit Court on unlawful imprisonment and adult abuse charges.
Worthy said it was all about money. The victim, Floyd Edward Pickrell, suffers from dementia and frequently visited a doughnut shop owned by Khattar. Worthy said the three men acted in concert to kidnap Pickrell “in order to obtain his money.
“The facts alleged in this case read like a bad movie,” Worthy said in a statement. “The real tragedy is that this is not fiction. This victim was targeted and plotted against because these defendants wanted to fleece him.”
According to the prosecution, about 6 p.m. July 19, Pickrell was discovered missing from Regency Health Care, 12575 Telegraph, a foster home where the victim lived. Two men reportedly signed Pickrell out to allegedly take him to dinner; security camera footage shows two men lifting Pickrell over a wall.
One of the defendants, Howard, was arrested on July 21 and charged with unlawful imprisonment, a felony carrying a possible 15-year prison sentence. Although in custody, Howard refused to tell police where Pickrell was being kept. A civilian tip received on July 22 led po-lice to an Ypsilanti hotel room where Pickrell was found. He was later re-turned to Regency Health Care.
Tomes and Khattar were arrested last Saturday, and the three were charged with unlawful imprisonment; conspiracy to commit unlawful imprisonment, also a 15-year felony; and second-degree abuse of a vulnerable adult, a four-year felony. Howard received a $100,000 cash or surety bond, and remains in custody. Tomes was offered bond at 10 percent of $100,000, and Khattar for 10 percent of $150,000.
An arraignment in Wayne County Circuit Court is expected as the charges against the three were bound over from the 23rd District Court. Howard faces a preliminary exam Monday.
(James Mitchell can be reached at [email protected])