Callicoon Man Holds Family Hostage For A Week

CALLICOON, N.Y. (AP) — Authorities say a New York man held his girlfriend and their two children captive in the family's home for a week while he drank his way through cases of beer starting on New Year's Eve.

The Sullivan County Sheriff's Office tells the Times Herald-Record of Middletown that 40-year-old Benito Lopez was arrested at his home in rural Callicoon after probation officers received a tip he was preventing his girlfriend, 11-year-old son and 12-year-old daughter from leaving the house.

Police say he had taken the car keys and disconnected the phone on Dec. 31, but his girlfriend eventually used the Internet to contact a relative via Facebook.

Police found 15 cases of empty beer cans inside the home.

Lopez is in the county jail. It couldn't be determined if he has a lawyer.