HANOVER TOWNSHIP, LUZERNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — Police say they arrested a man after he attempted to illegally take his son out of the country.
According to the Hanover Township Police Department, officers began an investigation into a missing 12-year-old boy from South Regent Street.
Through further investigation police determined that the child’s father, 33-year-old Abraham De La Cruz-Figueroa, lives in the Dominic Republic (DR) and planned to take the child there without the permission of his legal guardian.
Police say De La Cruz-Figueroa has no legal custody of the child and is not allowed to take him out of the country.
A warrant was issued for De La Cruz-Figueroa’s arrest and he was apprehended at the Newark International Airport on March 21 before boarding a booked flight to the DR. The child was found safely with De La Cruz-Figueroa and was returned to his legal guardian.
On Thursday De La Cruz-Figueroa was extradited to Pennsylvania from the Essex County Prison and he was arraigned on the charges of interference with custody of children.
De La Cruz-Figueroa was deemed by the judge as a flight risk and bail was set to $200,000.
