DETROIT -- Former Temptations singer Eddie Kendricks got a rude surprise when he came to Detroit for the funeral of colleague David Ruffin.
Kendricks, who lives in Marietta, Ga., was arrested at the church Monday for non-payment of $26,000 in child support.
Wayne County sheriff's deputies told Kendricks shortly before the services began at New Bethel Baptist Church that they had a warrant for his arrest.
Kendricks, a pallbearer, was allowed to participate in Ruffin's funeral services. Afterward, he was picked up by deputies and taken before Wayne County Circuit Judge Marvin Stempien.
The judge released Kendricks pending a court arraignment Tuesday afternoon.
Kendricks and his former wife, Patricia, were divorced in 1975 in Detroit. He was ordered to pay her $25,000 and make child-support payments for their son.
In 1982, Kendricks was sentenced by a Wayne County circuit judge to 60 days in jail unless he paid $5,000 to a court-appointed receiver in his divorce case. Kendricks complied with the order.
Kendricks and Ruffin were members of the original Temptations, Motown's first major male singing group, in the 1960s. Ruffin left the group in 1968 and Kendricks left in 1971. Ruffin died of an accidental drug overdose in Philadelphia June 1.
