A Prince George’s County, Maryland, man in a strange kidnapping and hit and run case, which included a woman claiming she was randomly abducted, driven around naked in a rental van for about 12 hours and stabbed in the hand, was ordered held without bond Monday.
It all started in Southeast D.C. Friday when the victim said she was forced into a U-Haul van at knife point around 10 a.m., forced to get naked and rode around on the floor of the car, and even got stabbed in the hand. She believed the man driving the van, 62-year-old Dennis Bell, was taking her to South Carolina, and she told police she was worried for her safety.
But when Bell was arrested around 10 p.m. that night, he was being chased by police through Lanham and Glenn Dale, ultimately coming to a stop in an embankment a few blocks away from his home. Police said he kept trying to drive away, but the van was stuck.
Bell made his first appearance in court on Monday afternoon, and as the story was retold, shook his head and said “no your honor” repeatedly. His public defender tried to portray a man incapable of every carrying out such a crime.
Bell’s lawyer, Samantha Alexander, told the court that Bell had just had his hip replacement surgery less than two weeks before the time of the crash and could barely walk. In fact, he was supposed to get bandages treated and removed today, but couldn’t, since he was locked up in jail over the weekend. Bell will remain there after the judge denied his request for supervised home detention.
“People can do things … even if they appear not to be physically able to do so,” said state’s attorney Aisha Braveboy. “To drive erratically, hit several vehicles which is alleged here, which police observed, so this isn’t just something that is just pie in the sky. These are things police observed.”
Also working against Bell was that he’s no stranger to the court system, having been arrested multiple times before, while giving authorities multiple aliases. In fact, he was out on release while awaiting court dates for multiple other charges.
But at the same time, this is also the first time Bell has ever been charged with a violent crime, “which is really surprising given the alleged facts of this case,” said Judge Ada Clark-Edwards during the bail review. But she also noted that the driving infractions that police observed and other allegations also occurred while he’s recovering from his recent surgeries too.
Braveboy noted this case is still in the very preliminary stages and that prosecutors are still trying to fully grasp just what happened, starting with the alleged kidnapping Friday morning.
“These are very serious charges. Everyone was at risk that day,” she said. “Our position with respect to the bond reflected our concerns for the public.”
