A Beaumont man was sentenced Tuesday to 10 years in prison for kidnapping two girls after stealing the truck they were in. The girls and the truck were abandoned in Orange.
Henry Dwight Moore, 23, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jay C. Zainey of the Eastern District of Louisiana. Moore will also have five years of supervised release.
According to the October 11 guilty plea, Moore drove a black truck into a Lowe’s parking lot in Sulphur, La., on December 13, 2015. He stole a customer’s purse who had walked away from it to return a shopping cart. A bystander saw Moore take the purse, and the bystander jumped into the back of Moore’s truck as he drove away.The truck’s engine died at one point, and the bystander attempted to confront him. Moore got the engine started again and sped off, leaving the bystander in the truck bed. Eventually Moore stopped and the bystander got out.
Moore then continued westbound on Interstate 10 in the rain. He lost control and struck the side of a Toyota Tundra truck. After the Tundra owner exited the truck and walked to the passenger side to inspect the damage, Moore jumped into the driver’s seat and drove off. Inside the Tundra truck were the owner’s daughters ages 5 and 7.
Moore told the girls he was going to drop them off at a police station but instead abandoned the car and the girls on the side of the road in Orange, Texas. The oldest girl located her father’s cell phone and called 911 for help.
The FBI conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jamilla A. Bynog prosecuted the case.
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