Lafayette Man Arrested For Attempted Kidnapping Of Young Girl

LAFAYETTE, La. (KPEL) -- A Lafayette man is facing kidnapping charges after he allegedly tried to run away with a nine-year-old girl.

According to an arrest affidavit from the Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office, officers investigating a different incident were told by patrons of the Cypress Tree Inn on the Evangeline Thruway that a "white male was attempting to kidnap a juvenile female."

Deputies spotted the suspect, 53-year-old Michael Lynn Hughes. Police say Hughes initially denied trying to grab the victim.

Witnesses at the scene, though, say Hughes called to them in the breezeway of the apartment complex. The victim's friends ran to the apartment of their parents, but Hughes grabbed her and began walking away with her. The victim says she kicked him and then ran away.

Hughes then changed his story and told deputies he was drunk and "may have grabbed the victim's arm, but he doesn't remember."

Hughes was arrested and booked into the Lafayette Parish Correctional Center on a charge of kidnapping. He also had outstanding warrants from the Lafayette City Court for having an expired driver's license and for disobeying controls.

Bond for Hughes has been set at $1,750 with no bond for the kidnapping charge.