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FOSTER TWP. — The owner of an excavation and logging company was arrested Tuesday on charges he concocted an abduction scheme to reclaim an excavator.
State police at Hazleton allege Bruce Robert Redmond, 30, of Ransom Road, Franklin Township, sent several text messages to the mother and girlfriend of an employee, saying he abducted their loved one.
A dump truck hauling rocks owned by Redmond’s company, Redmond Logging and Excavating, flipped on Wilson Road, Larksville, damaging the front yard of a residence on Monday. The driver of the dump truck fled the scene.
Larksville police said they have a person-of-interest in the crash.
A day after the crash, agents with the federal Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives executed a search warrant at the logging company’s office on Market Street, Kingston.
A spokesperson for the ATF acknowledged a search took place but declined to elaborate.
According to the criminal complaint:
Troopers on March 25 responded to a residence on Hess Lane in Foster Township on a report of an alleged abduction.
Holly Ann Jones and Karlee Marie Stempel claimed they received text messages from Redmond indicating he abducted Timothy John Jones.
Holly Jones and Stempel believed Redmond abducted Timothy Jones to recover an excavator that Robert Lee Jones, Timothy’s father, was withholding on a mechanic’s lien.
Redmond told troopers Timothy Jones was unharmed and sleeping at his place of business in Kingston.
Redmond claimed he picked up Timothy Jones at a truck stop in White Haven, and drove him to a job site in Hunlock Township where they worked on equipment until 7:30 p.m. on March 25, the complaint says.
After leaving Hunlock Township, Redmond allegedly told troopers he drove Timothy Jones to his Kingston office where they ate pizza.
As they ate pizza, Redmond allegedly told troopers, they devised a plan to say he abducted Timothy Jones with intent to extort Robert Jones to release the excavator.
Redmond claimed he sent a series of text messages to Holly Jones and Stempel about Timothy Jones being held in a basement but the abduction was not real, the complaint says.
Holly Jones and Stempel said they communicated with Timothy Jones but felt he was being coerced into saying he was okay by Redmond.
Redmond was charged with terroristic threats and criminal use of communication facility. He was arraigned Tuesday night by District Judge Donald Whittaker in Nanticoke and remained jailed at the county correctional facility for lack of $500,000 bail.