VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — The victim in a kidnapping over the weekend involving a Virginia Beach man allegedly had a protective order against him.
Joshua Stokes, 36, is accused of kidnapping his estranged girlfriend before leading police on a high-speed chase in North Carolina and crashing his car in Wake County.
According to court documents, the woman filed a protective order against Stokes last year after he attacked her at her home in Chesapeake.
"The protective order is used as a form of threat management to allow someone experiencing some form of violence to have legal protection for their person," Michelle Ellis Young with YWCA of South Hampton Roads said.
Ellis Young who helps victims of domestic violence said the order is normally placed to keep a paper trail of the trauma someone may be experiencing.
"Protective orders don't stop acts of violence if someone is intending to do something, they just simply figure that out, unfortunately," Ellis Young, said.
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According to court documents Stokes allegedly violated that protective order several times in 2022 and in April of this year.
Stokes also tried placing an order against the woman back in April and accused her of assaulting him at this home.
Stokes later dropped the order case.
On Sunday, Stokes allegedly violated the protective order again after kidnapping the woman until he crashed the purple the Dodge Charger he was driving into a guard rail.
Stokes is due back in court in North Carolina on Dec. 1.
