Father arrested in Iredell teen kidnapping case, officials say

IREDELL COUNTY, N.C. — The father of an Iredell County teenager was arrested after five people zip-tied the teen and kidnapped him from his home, authorities said.

Rickey Thomas Jr., the teenager's non-custodial father, was taken into custody by South Hadley Police in Massachusetts.

Authorities believe Thomas was one of the abductors and orchestrated the plan to take the teenager to Massachusetts.

A neighbor called 911 after seeing the group take a 17-year-old from the house on West Iredell Circle and force him into a van.

Thomas hired a transport to take his son from the home, and that group first went to Iredell High School looking for the boy, according to investigators.

Police later stopped the mini-van with four kidnappers in Virginia, and they said the teen wasn't seriously hurt. The four were arrested.

Virginia authorities located plastic zip ties inside the mini-van that are believed to have been used restrain the juvenile.

Detectives with the Iredell County Sheriff's Office drew warrants for felony restraint and felony breaking and entering for Lorraine Colpitts, Michael Warman, Tony Winslow, and Mickey Mitton.

They were later arrested.

The district attorney's office agreed to seek extradition of the suspects back to North Carolina to face charges.

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