FROM STAFF REPORTS

A Florida man has been charged with five counts of kidnapping in Iredell County in connection with his job as a driver for a prisoner transport company.

Sheriff Darren Campbell announced the arrest of Joshua James Pinquet, 21, of Sandlewood Court, Orlando, in a news release.

Iredell County Sheriff’s Office deputies were advised to look for an inmate transport van traveling west on Interstate 40 on the morning of Tuesday, November 28, Campbell said.

The owner of the inmate transport company reported that Pinquet was off course and refusing to return the company’s van, according to the ICSO news release. 

Pinquet was traveling with four inmates, who were locked in the locked cargo area of the van, and another employee, the sheriff said.

The driver reportedly told the owner that he was quitting his job in the middle of the trip and refused to stop at the intended destination with the prisoners, according to the news release.

ICSO deputies located and stopped the van on I-40 near mile marker 154, Campbell said. Deputies detained both employees and ensured all inmates were secured in the rear of the van.

Detectives learned the transport company had been hired by various law enforcement agencies outside of North Carolina to deliver inmates to and from various detention centers around the country.

The detectives conducted interviews and learned Pinquet was supposed to stop at a location in Hickory, but he refused to stop and continued traveling along Interstate 40, Campbell said.

Pinquet was arrested and charged with five counts of felony second-degree kidnapping and felony larceny by employee. He was taken to the Iredell County Detention Center, where Magistrate Imes ordered him held without bond.

The inmates were turned over to additional personnel from the transport company.