Ex-Wife Of Miami Heat Star Dwyane Wade Accused Of Trying To Abduct Children

By Chuck Sudo in News on Jun 20, 2012 2:05PM

The Miami Heat are one game away from winning the NBA Finals. Off the court, Heat guard and Chicago native Dwyane Wade is dealing with another battle that could easily become a distraction on the court.

Wade's ex-wife Siovaughn Funches-Wade was charged with two counts of attempted child abduction, two counts of unlawful visitation interference and one count of resisting arrest in connection with a weekend incident where Wade's sons were delayed in being returned to his custody.

According to Wade's attorney, James Pritikin, the boys were in Chicago visiting their mother and were to be turned over to Wade's sister at noon last Saturday so they could fly back to Miami to be with Wade for Father's Day. Funches-Wade, however, didn't respond to phone calls or answered her doorbell, so Cook County Sheriff's officers were called in to help get the kids.

A neighbor let officers onto the property, which is surrounded by a 10-foot-high fence, and found the kids to be safe, playing outside. Cook County Sheriff's office spokesman Frank Bilecki said Funches-Wade started swinging her arms after she was placed in handcuffs. A second woman in the house, Nadgee Alarcon, tried to pull Funches-Wade behind the gate and was also charged with resisting arrest.

TMZ has a mugshot of Funches-Wade. Pritikin filed an emergency motion on Wade's behalf Tuesday to have her visitation rights suspended.

"Once again, S.L. has used our minor children as the proverbial pawns in this contentious dissolution of marriage action," Wade wrote in the filing, using initials to protect identities but referring to his ex-wife. "This court must take action to protect our minor children from further exposure to the present environment S.L. creates while they are in her care and preventing S.L. from exercising her parenting time in a manner that is harmful to our children."

The couple, who were childhood sweethearts during their days at Richards High School, divorced in 2010 and had a contentious custody battle where Wade was eventually awarded custody of 10-year-old Zaire and 5-year-old Zion. Wade wrote an 2011 op-ed in Newsweek where he described the struggles of being a divorced parent.

"All children need their fathers, but boys especially need fathers to teach them how to be men. I remember wanting that so badly before I went to live with my dad. I wanted someone to teach me how to tie a tie and walk the walk, things only a man can teach a boy. Of course, back then, I never could have imagined being in the same situation someday with my own kids. My dad and I bumped heads a lot—we were so alike, both of us born competitors. My older son, Zaire, is exactly the same way. We’ll battle on the court when I’m 39 and he’s 19. He’s 9 now, and he’s grown up with basketball. Zion could take it or leave it, which is cool by me.

"Today, I constantly tell my dad how much I appreciate what he did for me. I think you really have to become a parent to understand what you will endure to be there for your kids. I could say I was surprised at the criticism I received for traveling from Miami to Chicago so often during the regular season for my custody court cases, but nothing really surprises me anymore. I had a duty to fight to be with my kids, and I did it."

Pritikin told media after the filing.

“It takes two parents to raise children,” Pritikin said. “And those parents have to be a team. And Mr. Wade has always taken the position that he needs Ms. Wade healthy as a partner in helping him raise these boys.”

Funches-Wade was released on $10,000 bond. She's due back in court in August