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Police apprehend kidnapping suspect

His girlfriend is in custody and faces kidnapping charges. Her 3-year-old daughter, the victim, is safe.

By TAMARA EL-KHOURY
Published April 21, 2006

DUNEDIN - Authorities arrested a Massachusetts man Thursday night who was wanted in connection with a kidnapping that had led to a manhunt and the lockdown of nine schools a day earlier.

Michael Richard Franks, 24, called the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office on Thursday evening after learning of media reports, authorities said. He agreed to meet sheriff's Lt. Robert Alfonso at a parking lot on Clearwater Beach, where he was arrested around 8:15 p.m.

Few other details of the arrest were available by press time Thursday.

Franks was thought to have some ties to the area, said Falmouth, Mass., police Sgt. Douglas DeCosta. DeCosta said he does not know what the connection is but thinks Franks was in the area before.

A manhunt for Franks on Wednesday inconvenienced students when nine schools were locked down about 4 p.m. Many students at Dunedin Middle School said they used their cell phones to contact their parents.

Lockdowns occur whenever law enforcement has reason to think there could be a potential harm or threat to the school, said Pinellas County school district spokesman Sterling Ivey.

"Typically, most of the lockdowns occur during the school day and it's a very short period," Ivey said. Wednesday "was unique because the lockdown occurred as we were getting ready to dismiss the students."

Franks fled from a Pinellas County sheriff's deputy who spotted the sport utility vehicle he and his girlfriend were driving parked in downtown Dunedin and pulled in behind it about 3:15 p.m.

Deputies were told Franks, his girlfriend, Shellie Lynn Hooben, 20, of Falmouth, and her 3-year-old daughter were in the area. Hooben's mother has parental custody of her daughter.

Falmouth police began investigating the kidnapping on Sunday.

They notified the Sheriff's Office that the couple and the toddler were thought to be heading toward Tampa Bay in Hooben's mother's Ford Explorer, which was taken without permission.

When the couple were pulled over on Main Street, hair stylist Lawrence Bristol was sitting in the waiting area of Gregory's Salon. He said he saw a sheriff's car park diagonally behind the Ford Explorer.

Bristol said Hooben had the toddler in her arms. The deputy asked the couple to approach him, sheriff's spokesman Mac McMullen said. As the deputy tried to handcuff him, Franks fled. The deputy ran about 20 paces after him, according to Bristol, but made the decision to stay with Hooben and her child.

"His concern was for the child and the female and their welfare and safety," McMullen said. The deputy radioed for additional units.

Mother and child stayed in the back of the deputy's car until about 7 p.m., Bristol said. At one point, the toddler came in to the salon to use the restroom.

"She was acting like she was having a really good time in Florida, like it was a vacation," Bristol said. "She was talking and walking. We gave her a cookie and she went back to the cop car."

Employees from other businesses came over to ask what was going on, Bristol said, but on Thursday, everything was back to normal.

"We were just saying, "Oh, it's almost 3 o'clock. Maybe there will be another incident to liven up the afternoon, '" Bristol said.

Arrangements are being made to take Hooben back to Massachusetts. A warrant has been issued there, charging her with kidnapping of a minor child by a relative and larceny of a motor vehicle, according to the Falmouth Police Department. Both charges are felonies.

The 3-year-old was turned over to the Sheriff's Office child protection investigators. She will eventually be reunited with her grandmother, McMullen said.

[Last modified April 21, 2006, 08:15:52]