Charges dropped against Delvin Barnes in Charles City abduction case

Devin Barnes was arrested on Nov. 5 in Maryland in a national abduction case. Six charges in Charles City were dropped, but may be brought up again according to Commonwealth's Attorney Rob Tyler.

Photo courtesy of Charles City Sheriff's Office

A Charles City man, arrested for an alleged brutal attack on a teenage girl in the county and an alleged kidnapping in Philadelphia, has had all charges incurred in Charles City dropped.

Charles City Commonwealth’s Attorney Rob Tyler elected to drop six charges filed against 37-year old Delvin Barnes. Barnes faced one count each of attempted murder, abduction, malicious wounding, malicious wounding with chemical, inanimate object penetration, and forcible rape stemming from an Oct. 1 incident in Charles City involving a 16-year-old female from Richmond.

A conversation with Tyler indicated while legal action won’t be pursued at this time, the charges could be brought back in the future.

“Right now, Barnes is in the custody of the federal government,” Tyler said. “If he is convicted on any of those charges, he will more than likely spend the rest of his life in prison.”

Barnes faces multiple felony charges for the alleged kidnapping of 22-year-old Carlesha Freeland-Gaither in Philadelphia. The crime was caught on surveillance video and broadcast throughout the nation.

Through a joint investigation involving detectives in Charles City and New Kent County, Barnes was tracked down and arrested on Nov. 5 after a GPS device located him in Maryland. When he was arrested, Freeland-Gaither was discovered in the car he was driving.

Tyler said that if potential federal convictions do not lock up Barnes or don’t give the defendant enough time behind bars, he plans to bring back the charges and seek to indict Barnes on all Charles City counts.