Highland County man charged with abduction

MONTEREY - Mark Siron, 37, of Monterey, was arrested Sunday for abduction, obstruction of justice, and threatening a law enforcement officer.

According to Highland sheriff Herb Lightner, Siron called the sheriff's department and claimed to be holding hostages at his apartment in Monterey.

Lightner says when he and deputies arrived, Siron only had one person, his girlfriend, who had been allegedly held against her will for about 90 minutes. Siron had also claimed to have a gun, but Lightner said he did not have a weapon when law enforcement officials arrived.

The sheriff said he wasn't sure why Siron made the call to his office. "I don't know what his motives were," Lightner said.

The woman was unharmed, but Siron threatened to hurt the deputies while they were there and failed to respond to the lawful orders given by deputies.

Siron was charged earlier last week, on Feb. 6, for reckless driving and leaving the scene of an accident. He has a previous record including misdemeanors and felonies. He was formerly represented by attorney Melissa Dowd, but when she was elected to the position of commonwealth's attorney, a special prosecutor was appointed for the separate charges in December, and Siron had a different defense counsel, Lightner said, adding he's unsure whether Dowd will be able to prosecute Siron on the new charges stemming from Sunday's incident.

"We've had a lot of problems with him," Lightner added.

Siron will be arraigned Friday.

- Anne Adams