November 28, 2009 in Nation/World

Man’s second ‘wife’ arouses suspicion

Washington Post The Spokesman-Review

A man seeking a loan at a St. Mary’s County, Md., bank kidnapped a woman and forced her to pose as his wife and co-sign for the loan, authorities said.

But authorities said the man’s plan had a serious flaw.

Just hours before the incident, Michael H. Williams, 43, went to the same PNC bank with another woman, possibly his wife, and tried to persuade her to co-sign, authorities said. When he returned hours later with the victim and called her his wife, bank employees became suspicious and alerted police.

According to the police account, Williams walked into the PNC bank branch in Mechanicsville about 1 p.m. Tuesday to seek a loan. With him was a woman he said was his wife. She refused to co-sign. Williams tried to sign her name, but the bank wouldn’t allow it. The two left together.

About two hours later, Williams was back at the bank with a different woman, said Capt. Edward Willenborg, commander of the patrol division for the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office. Again, Williams said he was with his wife, and she was there to co-sign a loan with him. The woman seemed nervous, and a teller alerted the manager, who called police, Willenborg said.

Williams fled, but he was located and arrested nearby a short time later, Willenborg said.

The woman told police that Williams had approached her at a nearby gas station and said he would hurt her if she did not get in his car, Willenborg said.