LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (Reuter) - An alleged deadbeat dad who slipped back into Arkansas to watch his son graduate from high school Tuesday night was arrested after his ex-wife saw him in the audience and summoned police.
She spotted her six-foot, nine-inch former husband when the commencement audience of several thousand stood for the invocation.
The man, Louis Pittman, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to failure to pay court-ordered child support.
Pittman's former wife, LeeAnn McNulty, had a copy of the warrant for Pittman's arrest in her purse and showed it to a policeman who was providing security at the ceremony.
"When an officer told him there was a warrant for his arrest, Mr. Pittman indicated he knew it was coming and that he was aware of what was going on." said Lt. John Hutchinson of the Little Rock Police.
Pittman has not paid child support in more than eight years and owes approximately $62,000 to his former wife, according to papers on file with Little Rock police.
Pittman's ex-wife told officers he had been writing his children from other points in the U.S. and from Australia but that his whereabouts were unknown until Tuesday night.
"He asked if he could watch the ceremony but we did have an arrest warrant, so he was taken into custody and jailed," said Hutchinson.
Neither Pittman nor his attorney would comment Wednesday.
REUTER

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Alleged deadbeat dad arrested at son's graduation, Reuters, 21 May 1997.