It must really suck to be the family of Benito Lopez -- he held them hostage for almost a week... because he wanted to drink 15 cases of beer.

According to The New York Daily News, Lopez was arrested on Monday on three counts of unlawful imprisonment (felony charges), and two misdemeanor counts of endangering the welfare of a child (why is child endangerment a misdemeanor and not a felony?) in upstate New York. According to the charges, Lopez, 40, held his girlfriend, his 12-year-old daughter, and his 11-year-old son captive beginning on New Year's Eve.

Lopez also disconnected their phones and took away all of their electronic devices so they couldn't call for help. He also took away his girlfriend's car keys so she couldn't escape with the kids.

Lopez was on probation for felony drunk driving -- oh, the irony -- at the time of his arrest.

According to The Stir, the family finally got to safety because they DID have Internet access (though it begs the question: how did they access the Internet with no electronic devices?), and Lopez's girlfriend put out an SOS on her Facebook page. "The girlfriend's relatives reached out to the probation department where they were already familiar with Lopez," reports The Stir.

Currently, Lopez is being held in the Sullivan County Jail on $5,000 bail. "She was pretty much held against her will," Undersheriff Eric Chaboty said of Lopez's girlfriend. "She made believe she was playing some games online when she actually had Facebook up."

"Many of the fallbacks you'd think would end a situation like this simply weren't there because of the timing and the location of the Lopez house. His girlfriend really had to think on her toes to find a way to help herself and her kids. And thank goodness she did," concludes The Stir.