FAYETTE COUNTY — A 19-year-old Vandalia man has been charged in Fayette County Court with felony kidnapping following his arrest Tuesday night in Vandalia.
According to reports, an officer responded just before 6:30 p.m. Tuesday night to the Vandalia Walmart in response to a call of a subject possibly being held against their will.
(Source: Coles County SO)
Reports say the officer located the suspect vehicle and stopped it at Main and Adams streets in Vandalia.
Christopher Gene Griffith was subsequently arrested for alleged kidnapping and driving without a valid license. Griffith was taken to the Fayette County Jail and was formally charged in court Wednesday with Class 2 felony kidnapping.
In April Griffith waived his right to an attorney and pleaded guilty in Fayette County Court to a misdemeanor charge of harboring a runaway.
He was sentenced to 1-year probation and has since been arrested twice in that case for failing to appear in court. Most recently he was arrested in that case December 21 and was just released Monday after posting bond.
He was additionally ordered in that case to complete counseling, abstain from drug and alcohol, as well as to have no contact with the victim with the initials “K.S.”