Gritz Arrested At School In The East He And His Son Face Attempted Kidnapping Charges In Woman’s Child-Custody Battle

James G. “Bo” Gritz, who helped end the FBI siege at Ruby Ridge, Idaho, and tried to mediate resolution of the freemen standoff in Montana, was arrested here Monday on charges of attempted kidnapping at a middle school.

Police said Gritz, 57, and his son James R. Gritz, 38, both of Nevada, were trying to abduct a child who has been the subject of a custody battle between divorced parents.

The two were arrested at McAlister Middle School after being spotted in the parking lot by an officer on patrol. They both were charged with first-degree criminal attempt to commit custodial interference, first-degree attempt to commit kidnapping and loitering on school grounds.

The younger Gritz also was charged with possession of a weapon and possession of burglary tools. Police did not identify the weapon.

Both are being held on $1 million bond. Arraignment is scheduled for 9 a.m. today in Enfield (Conn.) Superior Court.

Police would not identify the child, but a source close to the case told The Associated Press that the mother of the child is a former Connecticut woman who was arrested this summer in Las Vegas after fleeing the state with her two young children.

Linda M. Wiegand had been on the run for two years after losing a custody battle with her husband. She had been wanted on two felony charges of custodial interference in the first degree. She was arrested in July in a home she was renting in Las Vegas. She is out on bond.

Bo Gritz, a much-decorated former Green Beret colonel, is a national leader of the so-called “patriot movement,” which rails against a United Nations-led “new world order” and charges the U.S. government with corruption and violence.

He helped persuade Randy Weaver to end his standoff with the FBI at Ruby Ridge in 1992 and tried the same thing with the Montana freemen last April. But after five days, he gave up, saying the freemen had taken an “oath to God” not to leave their compound until their demands were met.

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