A man accused of kidnapping three women and threatening their lives pleaded not guilty in court Tuesday.
Fred Lee Byrd pleaded not guilty to 14 charges and rejected a plea offer.
If Byrd had accepted the state’s offer, he would have been sentenced to seven to 14 years in prison.
If one of Byrd’s alleged victims had her way, the charges would be dropped, according to Gaston County Assistant District Attorney Robert Forbes.
“The lady that’s behind all this wants to drop everything,” Forbes told Gaston County Superior Court Judge Don Bridges.
Forbes said he’s not going to let that happen.
According to Forbes, Byrd and the woman were in a volatile relationship. She has taken out domestic violence protection orders and filed charges against Byrd in the past, Forbes said.
Forbes said he’s not dropping this case.
Byrd is accused of kidnapping three women one night in early May and forcing them to drive him around Gastonia. Byrd used a knife and threats to keep the women with him, police said.
Two of the women knew Byrd, according to police, and the incident started when he had an argument with his girlfriend.
Byrd eventually stopped at a gas station and sent one woman inside to buy a case of beer, according to police. That woman told the store clerk that she and her mother had been taken hostage.
Police arrived, and Byrd fled with two women still in the car. One woman jumped out of the car during the police pursuit, and the chase ended when Byrd ran the car into a utility pole on U.S. 321 near I-85.
Byrd has been charged with three counts of kidnapping, robbery with a dangerous weapon, malicious conduct by prisoner, fleeing/eluding arrest by motor vehicle, reckless driving to endanger, larceny of a motor vehicle, injury to personal property, two counts of simple assault and three counts of assault on a female.
The plea offer would have required Byrd to plead guilty to four of the charges. The others would have been dismissed.
A trial date has not yet been set.
Byrd remains in Gaston County Jail, where he’ll spend his 48th birthday next week.
Initially held on a $300,000 secured bond, Byrd’s bond has been increased to $652,000.
You can reach Diane Turbyfill at 704-869-1817 and twitter.com/GazetteDiane.