from the Columbus, Dispatch

Delaware officials catch up to man indicted in June
Sunday, February 04, 2007


DELAWARE COUNTY, OHIO - Ruben C. Herrera, a prominent voice on local Latino issues, was arrested yesterday on felony charges that he owes $16,709 in back child support.

A Delaware County deputy sheriff handcuffed Herrera at 9:15 a.m., just before he was to moderate a workshop at Columbus State Community College, and took him to the Delaware County jail.

News media were notified beforehand that the arrest would take place at the workshop, which concerned mental health among Ohio Latinos. Herrera, 49, was indicted in June in connection with the child-support debt, a fifthdegree felony.

Why arrest Herrera at a public event and not at his home?

Delaware County Prosecutor David Yost said it was nothing out of the ordinary, and that deputies go where they must to serve their warrants.

"We have been trying to pick him up since last June," Yost said. "He knows he is wanted. This is a place law enforcement knew he would be."

Yost said he wasn’t sure whether Herrera had been dodging authorities, but "From where we sit, it looks like he was trying to avoid service of the indictment."

Herrera, a leader in the Ohio Immigration Network, a group of organizations pushing for immigration reform, will be held in the county jail until he is arraigned, likely early this week, before Common Pleas Judge Everett Krueger, Yost said.