Crime & Safety

Walnut Creek Man Ordered To Stand Trial In Lafayette Home Imprisonment Case

Tod Morton is accused of holding a day laborer hostage inside a storage room

A Walnut Creek contractor will stand trial on charges he held a day laborer hostage inside a Lafayette home last year.

Tod Morton is facing charges of false imprisonment and robbery, according to a story in the Contra Costa Times.

Morton, 52, is free on $125,000 bail and will return to court on Nov. 12. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

At a preliminary hearing on Monday in Contra Costa Superior Court, a 43-year-old Nicaraguan immigrant testified Morton picked him up outside the Home Depot in Concord, according to the Times.

The immigrant said after he did some work around a home in Lafayette, Morton took him to a storage room inside the house to dust.

The immigrant testified Morton returned dressed as a police officer, handcuffed him and took his pocket knife and cell phone, the Times reported.

The victim eventually escaped and ran down the street, still handcuffed, yelling for help.




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