A former hostage in Iraq had been in his home state for just a day before he was imprisoned again - this time, on a charge of failing to pay child support.
Bobby Sherrill, 39, a native of Parkton in Robeson County who now lives in Meridian, Miss., returned home Wednesday after spending more than three months as a hostage. He was arrested by a Cumberland County sheriff's deputy about 5 p.m.According to a court record, Sherrill owed $1,425 in child support payments to his estranged wife, Terri L. Sherrill of Swansboro. The couple has two children - Scott, 13, and Ashley, 10.
Sherrill, a Lockheed technician, was supposed to pay $600 a month in payments and attorney fees, the record said.
Sherrill tried to explain his situation to Magistrate Raymond York but was told he had to pay cash before he could be released.
``I don't have any money on my person right now. You know, I was in Kuwait. I was kidnapped and taken to Iraq,' Sherrill told York. ``I had no way to make the payments.
``I made the payments in Kuwait up until the time I was taken prisoner. I talked to my company by phone to make the payments. I was unable to get any mail out.
``Is there any way I could be released to make the payment?'
York replied: ``Only if you make the payment.'
After determining that York required a cash payment and wouldn't accept a check, Sherrill said:
``Not too many places you can come up with cash at this time of night. Is there nothing I can do to postpone this until regular business hours?'
York replied: ``Not unless you can get someone to get hold of the chief district court judge. I hate to do this to you. He (the deputy) probably hated to go out there and place you under arrest.'
But Sherrill said he was still glad to be out of Iraq.
``I'd rather be here than there,' he said in an interview from behind prison bars.
Sherrill called a family member, who contacted the chief district judge, Sol Cherry. Cherry called the jail and ordered Sherrill's release. He was freed about 7:30 p.m.
Sherrill's court appearance was set for 8 a.m. Jan. 17 in Cumberland District Court.
Terri Sherrill has an unlisted phone number and could not be reached for comment. Her attorney, Ronnie Mitchell of Fayetteville, was out of town.
Sherrill's father, Joe Sherrill of Parkton, said he had made arrangements to pay the child support while his son was held hostage.
``We thought that we had paid it up, to be honest with you,' Sherrill said Friday.
He said the payment was missed a couple of months, but he thought he had been able to catch up with an $1,800 payment in November and a $600 payment this month. It's not clear if the money is owed from when Sherrill was a hostage, his father said.
The arrest ``just devastated his mother,' Joe Sherrill said of his wife, Melba. ``They threw the handcuffs on him and dragged him off just like he shot somebody. It really wrecked her.'
Sherrill was working in Kuwait when Iraq invaded the country on Aug. 2. His company had a contract with the Kuwaiti Air Force to modify four Lockheed L-100 aircraft, a commercial version of the C-130 cargo plane. He and two other Lockheed employees had planned to be in the country four months.
Sherrill said that on Aug. 30, Iraqi soldiers entered his hotel, the SAS International, and said no one could leave. The next day, he and others were put on two buses and taken to Baghdad.
They were taken to a hotel where they stayed five days before being separated. Sherrill said he was moved five times.
Sherrill left Friday for Mississippi, his father said.
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