Manitoba RCMP rescue Niagara Falls, Ont., woman from apparent kidnapping

Man, 45, arrested in Brandon, Man., motel room after fleeing police

Image | RCMP police car

Caption: Manitoba RCMP say a 45-year-old man from Niagara Falls, Ont., was arrested in Brandon Monday night on charges that include forcible confinement and fleeing police. (CBC)

RCMP say they rescued a Niagara Falls, Ont., woman Sunday who they believe was being held against her will by a man driving through southwestern Manitoba.
Just before noon on Sunday, Niagara police asked RCMP in Manitoba to stop a vehicle heading west on Highway 16.
Niagara police believed the 45-year-old Niagara Falls man driving the vehicle was travelling with a 48-year-old woman who was being held against her will and may have been assaulted, Manitoba RCMP said in a Friday news release.
Officers spotted the vehicle just east of Neepawa and tried to stop it, but the driver sped away.
Police used a spike belt across the highway just east of Neepawa, but the driver sped over it and continued driving, the release says. The vehicle was eventually forced to stop on a residential street.
The driver fled on foot, but police found the 48-year-old woman waiting with the vehicle.
The woman wasn't physically injured and was taken back to the Neepawa detachment, where she was later released without charge.
Officers also found approximately 4,800 unmarked cigarettes in the car, RCMP say.

Image | Manitoba RCMP kidnapping unmarked cigarettes Aug 11 2023

Caption: RCMP say they also found found approximately 4,800 unmarked cigarettes in the car after it was forced to stop on Sunday. (Submitted by RCMP)

On Monday, police in Brandon, Man. — about 55 kilometres southwest of Neepawa — got a tip that the man was staying at a motel on First Street N. in the city.
Officers located the man in one of the motel's rooms and arrested him without incident.
The man is now facing multiple charges including forcible confinement, dangerous driving and fleeing police.