September 20, 2017
By Paragon News Director Paul Joseph –
A Weatherford man is in jail on a number of felony charges including kidnapping after allegedly taking his newly married, ex-girlfriend from her home to another residence.
The man told police that he was home in bed with his wife when 33-year-old Bennie Darwin Bidwell, Junior pounded on their door early Sunday morning.
According to a probable cause affidavit, the victim’s husband went to the Weatherford police department last Sunday morning just minutes after 3 am to claim that his wife had just been abducted from their mobile home. He identified a photo of the suspect, Bidwell, as the alleged perpetrator who had awakened he and his wife around 2:30 am.
The affidavit says the suspect and victim had gone outside to talk, but then the suspect took off with his wife in her own vehicle.
The husband then received a call from his wife telling him he needed to leave their mobile home. He could hear the suspect in the background saying, “give me the phone.” Bidwell allegedly got on the phone and told the man, “You have 30-minutes to leave or I’m going to kill you,” then hung up.
Later, an officer was able to call the victim’s cell phone and a man, presumably Bidwell, answered. A location was pinged through the phone and police and the husband responded. Upon arrival to a home in the 400 block of North 3rd Street, Bidwell fled on foot with officers in chase.
When interviewed, the victim told police that she and her husband were not legally married, but living together as friends.
She also claimed that she had seen a gun that Bidwell was carrying and thought that Bidwell would use it against her friend/husband.
A later search of Bidwell’s residence allegedly turned up drug items including a white powder that field-tested positive for Methamphetamine, a glass pipe with residue and a tray with a leafy substance that tested positive for marijuana. Also found were two pellet guns, one a pistol and the other a rifle.
Damage was observed by law enforcement on the friend/husband’s vehicle.
Bidwell was arrested on two Custer County warrants and also charged with kidnapping, threatening to perform an act of violence, possession of a controlled, dangerous substance and maliciously injuring, defacing or destroying property less than $25-hundred dollars.
Bidwell is in jail on a $25-thousand dollar bond. No court date has yet been listed in online court records.
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