Nanaimo Mounties have four suspects in custody following a police pursuit triggered by the beating and abduction of a man at gunpoint.
Police responded to the TD Canada Trust parking lot at 9 Nicol St. at about 12:20 a.m. Monday after they were called about a man who was bleeding and screaming for help.
The victim, who was treated by B.C. Ambulance attendants, told police he was at a rural roadside location south of Nanaimo where he had arranged to meet someone to buy car parts. When he got out of his vehicle, he was accosted and severely beaten by two men he didn’t know.
According to police, the suspects put the victim in his truck. He told police that one of the suspects pointed a handgun at him and drove him back into town so he could withdraw money from his bank account. The other suspect followed in a black Jeep Wrangler.
An armoured car and armed guards were servicing the ATM when they arrived, so the victim took to the opportunity to escape and ran toward the guards as the suspects fled in both in both vehicles.
The victim was taken to Nanaimo Regional General Hospital and treated for injuries to his head and hand.
Shortly before 5 a.m., a black Jeep Wrangler with four occupants sped away from and RCMP member on patrol, who chased the Jeep through Nanaimo and northbound on the Nanaimo Parkway. The Jeep stopped in a driveway on Harwood Road in Lantzville where the four occupants jumped out and started running. Two men and two women were apprehended after a brief foot chase taken up by several officers and a police service dog who had joined the pursuit.
One of the suspects was found in possession of a pellet handgun and the Jeep Wrangler’s owner reported it stolen later that day. The victim’s truck was eventually found parked in a Nanaimo residential area. The suspects remain in custody and the investigation is continuing.