Credit: Iredell County Sheriffs Office
An Orlando man was arrested after he drove a van full of prison inmates off-course and refused to stop while traveling in North Carolina, deputies said.
On Tuesday, around 9 a.m., deputies received a call to be on the lookout for an inmate transport van traveling on I-40 in Statesville, North Carolina.
The caller was the owner of the inmate transport company and reported the driver was off course and refusing to return the van. The driver, Joshua James Pinquet, had four inmates in the locked cargo area of the van.
Another employee was traveling in the van with Pinquet, who was texting the transport company owner, deputies said.
Pinquet told the owner that he was quitting his job in the middle of the trip and refused to stop at the intended destination for the prisoners.
Deputies stopped the van in I-40 and learned Pinquet was supposed to stop at a location in Hickory with the inmates, but refused to stop.
Pinquet was charged with five counts of felony second-degree kidnapping and felony larceny by an employee.