Birdsnest man gets 90 day suspended sentence

By Linda Cicoira

A Birdsnest man, who was indicted in 2023 on a count of abduction by force, pleaded no contest Monday in Northampton Circuit Court to misdemeanor assault and battery of a family member.

Forty-four-year-old Earl Raymond Elder, of Trehernville Drive, was given a 90-day suspended sentence.

The victim told authorities she was with Elder on May 25, 2023. They planned to cross the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel but began fighting inside Elder’s car. She said she asked him several times to let her out. She said he wouldn’t. She told police she tried to escape several times, and each time, he would speed up the car making it dangerous for her to get out. She was later dropped off about 16 miles from her home.