Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, September 24, 1995 TAG: 9509250045
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAN CASEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Lisa Aliff - a Roanoke native, former movie actress and 1983 Miss Virginia - was arrested by deputies in West Hollywood based on a warrant issued by a Bedford County Circuit Court judge on Friday, said Sgt. Bob Minutello, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
"She's in custody; the child is being cared for by the Los Angeles County Department of Children's Services," Minutello said on Saturday.
The warrant was issued after Aliff's estranged husband, ex-William Fleming football star Lewis "Rick" Hawkins, alleged in court last week that Aliff failed to return custody of their son, Langley Hawkins, after visiting with her this summer.
Hawkins, who now lives in Goodview, was awarded temporary custody of the boy in 1993. The couple is separated but not yet divorced.
Aliff's Roanoke attorney, John Lichtenstein, said she didn't return the boy because Hawkins threatened her and tried to take him from Aliff's house in August in violation of an agreement the couple had allowing Langley to remain with her longer.
Aliff obtained a protective order from a California court barring Hawkins from contact with her after that incident, Lichtenstein said. Aliff turned herself in Friday after the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department notified her that it had received the warrant.
"To me, this is an absolutely ridiculous charge," Lichtenstein said on Saturday. "What it amounts to is Lisa has gone to jail to protect her child."
But Richard Lawrence, Hawkins' attorney, said his client never tried to abduct the boy but was merely investigating his mother's living conditions after getting a call from a concerned friend in California.
According to Lawrence, when Hawkins went to see the boy, "he said, 'I hate you, Daddy. I hate you.' It was obvious [his mind had] been poisoned."
"The bottom line is my client returned to Virginia, and the child was not returned at the end of the summer. By Virginia state law, that boy is supposed to be in kindergarten. If he doesn't get back here and start school soon, he'll have to wait another year to start," Lawrence said.
An emergency custody hearing is scheduled for Wednesday in Bedford County Circuit Court.
Aliff's recent arrest is the latest chapter in a saga of alleged adultery, spousal abuse and binge drinking that came to light early in 1994 when Hawkins filed for divorce and told his story to the National Enquirer.
The former high school sweethearts were married in 1985, two years after Aliff won the Miss Virginia crown and competed in the Miss America pageant. A short time after the wedding, they moved to California, where she worked mostly as a bit-part actress and he worked as a stockbroker.
According to the the Internet Movie Database, between 1986 and 1990, Aliff acted in the films "Playroom," "Love and Betrayal," "Damned River," and "You Can't Take It With You."
Perhaps the best known movie she had a role in was "Dragnet," a 1987 film that starred comedian Dan Aykroyd.
Lichtenstein said Aliff is now employed with a company in California, but he's unsure of the name or exactly what she does for a living.
It was during "Dragnet," Hawkins later alleged in divorce papers, that their marriage first hit the rocks. He claims Aliff and Aykroyd had an affair - which they both denied.
The couple later reconciled, and their son was born in 1990. But later problems in the marriage caused Hawkins to move back to Roanoke.
A final custody hearing is scheduled for October, Lawrence said. The issue of the divorce is now being handled by California courts.
by CNB