Two men charged with kidnapping, extortion, assault

An alleged kidnapping that went from Regina to Moose Jaw to Swift Current to Lloydminster has landed two men before the courts.

The incident is said to have occurred over the course of two days, on Feb. 22 and 23.

According to the Regina Police Service, three men were involved in drug use and drug-related “illegal acts” when one of the men, aged 24, introduced the others to a 23-year-old female friend.

It’s alleged the other two men confined and forced the 23- and 24-year-old complainants into a truck, which was then driven to the various Saskatchewan cities over the course of the next number of hours. During the drive, police were told, threats of violence were made to the male complainant while one of the suspects was holding a knife.

Police said once the group arrived in Lloydminster, one of the complainants was able to send a text message to someone they trusted, who then alerted RCMP to the pair’s plight.

Lloydminster RCMP headed to a location where the complainants were found hiding in a bathroom. Neither had sustained serious physical injuries.

The suspects, meanwhile, were located and arrested while sleeping in the truck.

David Joe Jerome, 31, from Regina and Wayne Joe Rochester, 36, from Moose Jaw are facing charges that include two counts each of kidnapping and extortion and one count of assault with a weapon. Although they were arrested in February on these allegations, they faced additional charges out of Lloydminster alleging drug, weapons and breach offences.

Until recently, the two men had been dealing with the Lloydminster charges and only now are being returned to Regina — the result of warrants executed by Regina city police — to deal with the kidnapping, extortion and assault charges.

The extortion charge alleges the use of threats and violence to induce the complainants “to work for the benefit” of the two accused. It wasn’t clear what type of work the complainants were alleged to have been told to do.

Jerome is to appear at Regina provincial court on May 29. Rochester appeared in Regina court on Friday, when the Crown agreed to his release on a number of conditions — among them that he not contact his co-accused or the two complainants and that he not possess weapons, among numerous other terms.

Rochester’s charges are back in court on June 4.