POLICE arrested and charged a 24-year-old man in Coventry on suspicion of kidnapping a woman and child after witnesses alleged seeing a woman grabbed by the neck and dragged into a car.
The arrest followed an extensive trawl of road cameras to track down the suspect’s vehicle, say West Midlands Police.
The alleged incident happened in Tower Street, Coventry, at 12.30pm on Sun (Sept 27) when a member of the public reported seeing a crying woman being grabbed round the neck and abducted together with a young child.
The Ford Mondeo’s details – noted down by the alert caller – was put on a road camera ‘hot list’ and circulated to police patrol units in the city. Police worked to identify the man through analysing Coventry’s network of Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras in a bid to uncover a pattern of movement for the vehicle in recent days.
Yesterday (Monday, September 28) officers discovered the car in Ansty Road, and a man, who lives in Wood End, was arrested on suspicion of kidnap. He was charged with driving without a licence and insurance – and yesterday appeared at Coventry Magistrates Court. The 24-year-old was bailed in relation to the kidnap with strict conditions not to contact the victim.
The victim was later found safe and well at an address in the city, police report.
Detective Inspector Chris Jones from our Public Protection Unit, said: “The 999 call was really worrying. We understood this to be a domestic incident and the concern was that if this man could display such aggression in public, what could happen behind closed doors.
“It was imperative we identified the suspect and woman as quickly as possible.
“The responding officers did a great job to gather quick-time intelligence on the car and suspect – and the forensic analysis of road cameras helped us build up a picture on its likely movements.
“The man has been bailed to give us time to complete ID parades with witnesses and gather more evidence. Referrals have also been made to children’s services.”
