A Starkville man has been indicted for a quartet of charges for attempted kidnappings and an attempt to escape from jail from mid — to late-February.
Grand jurors indicted 45-year-old John B. Arnold Jr. for two counts of attempted kidnapping and one count each of attempted escape and simple assault on a law enforcement officer.
Starkville Police first arrested Arnold on Feb. 16 for attempted kidnapping after he tried to check a child out of Sudduth Elementary School without the parents’ permission. He posted $100,000 bond for that charge. However, it was revoked and he was arrested again on Feb. 20 for attempting to contact one of the child’s family members, in violation of Oktibbeha County Justice Court Judge Marty Haug’s instructions with his bond.
Haug reinstated Arnold’s bond again on Feb. 21 on several conditions, one being that he wear an ankle bracelet with a GPS monitor.
On Feb. 23, Arnold removed the bracelet, leading to a manhunt in downtown Starkville. Arnold was charged with his second count of attempted kidnapping after the manhunt. According to circuit court documents, he went to Henderson Ward Stewart Elementary, where he approached an area where children were getting onto school buses and attempted to check a child out from school.
On February 28, Arnold attempted to escape from the Oktibbeha County Jail by attacking a detention officer. According to court documents, Arnold said that he needed to “get to that kid,” during the attempt.
He was charged with attempted escape and simple assault on a law enforcement officer from the incident.
Arnold has since been transferred to the Lowndes County Adult Detention Center. He is still being held there without bond on the Feb. 16 attempted kidnapping charge and a total of $30 million on the remaining charges.
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
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