Toronto police are asking for the public’s help in identifying multiple suspects who allegedly abducted a 26-year-old woman in a targeted attack after she was rear-ended by a car in Toronto’s north end.
Police said the woman was driving her car when she was rear-ended by a car near Church Avenue and Longmore Street, southeast of Yonge Street and Finch Avenue West, at around 12:30 a.m. Thursday. When she got out to inspect the damage, police said she was forced into a dark-coloured 2014 to 2016 Volvo S-80 car by a group of three or four men.
The vehicle then drove off and police said she was driven around by the men for an hour. Police said the woman was able to escape from the moving car near Valleymede Drive and 16th Avenue, west of Highway 404 in Richmond Hill. She was able to flag down a passerby and went to York Regional Police.
The woman was treated for undisclosed injuries after escaping and is recovering at home.
“I haven’t seen this kind of action here in Toronto. It worked and it got her out of the car,” Det. David Zajac told reporters Friday afternoon.
“I think it’s a public safety issue, especially for females driving alone at night.”
Zajac said nothing was taken from the woman and investigators believe she was targeted, but officers are still trying to determine the motive.
He said the men should be considered “armed and dangerous at this point because of the nature of the abduction itself.”
Investigators are asking anyone who was in the area that might have dash-camera or surveillance video to contact police.
Anyone with information is asked to call police at 416-808-3200 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-8477.