Police: Runaway sought to wed

Brownsville police arrested a Mexican man and an Alabama runaway as they were trying to make their way into Mexico to get married, police said.

Jorge Soriano, 19, a Mexican national from Veracruz who was in the country illegally, was charged with kidnapping a person under the age of 14, said police spokesman Sgt. Jimmy Manrrique.

The 13-year-old girl was charged with being a runaway and was sent to a juvenile detention center pending her transfer home, Manrrique said

The arrest took place at approximately 7 p.m. Thursday at El Expresso Bus Company, 1419 Adams St., when a bus arriving from Alabama pulled into the station.

"We had received a call from police officers in Clio, Alabama asking us to help them arrest Soriano because he had taken a minor without permission across state lines," Manrrique said.

Police boarded the bus and arrested Soriano and the teenager.

"They apparently were boyfriend and girlfriend and had run away trying to get to his home state of Veracruz, so they could get married," Manrrique said. "Even though she had gone with him willingly, because of her age, she didn't have legal capacity to go without permission."

A municipal judge set Soriano's bond at $20,000. Brownsville police are working with Clio authorities to transfer Soriano and the teenager back to Alabama.