Woman’s kidnap ordeal
A WOMAN who was threatened with a knife and forcibly removed from a car by her boyfriend on a busy Gold Coast road has refused to file a complaint.
According to police, the 20year-old woman was in a white van with her 19-year-old boyfriend on Pappas Way in Nerang on Saturday night, when she jumped from the passenger side of the van and flagged down a black car.
As the car stopped to pick her up, the alleged offender in the white van rammed the car from behind several times, forcing it into the gutter.
He then allegedly produced a knife and forced the woman out of the passenger seat of the black car and back into his van.
The boyfriend then allegedly fled the scene with the woman hostage and was last seen on Lawrence Drive, Ner- ang. The incident sparked a dramatic six-hour manhunt in the area, with police urging the public to come forward with witness accounts or dashcam footage.
Just before midnight, police were notified by a member of the public that the van was parked at a Paddington Drive address in Carrara.
Officers found the 20-yearold woman inside a house, along with her 19-year-old partner.
He was charged with one count of deprivation of liberty, one count of domestic violence offences, two counts of threats and one count of dangerous operation of a vehicle.
He is due to appear in the Southport Magistrates Court today.
The woman was not injured during the incident.
The couple did not have a domestic violence history.
“They were not on the DV radar. They were in a relationship. She was very lucky,” a police source said.
Resident Steven Brock said he didn’t know the people involved but often saw the van parked in the visitor’s spot within the complex.
“I heard the truck about 1.30am,” he said of the tow truck which picked up the alleged offender’s van.
“I’ve seen the guy working on the van before. It was parked for about four or five days doing nothing.”
Other residents say the man and woman were both living in the small complex for a number of months and the ordeal was out of the ordinary.
Another resident, who declined to be named, said the area was generally quiet but had seen the pair regularly going in and out of their rented townhouse together.
Police said while the woman did not file a complaint, she was co-operating with police.