Two men will face court next month, charged after allegedly kidnapping a man and a woman from Sydney and taking them to Port Stephens against their will.
Police say on 18 January 2023, a 26-year-old man and a 24-year-old woman were walking towards a carpark in Fairfield at 11:40am when two men wearing balaclavas grabbed them and forced the pair into a vehicle.
Detectives from the State Crime Command’s Robbery and Serious Crime Squad were notified and an investigation began under Strike Force Bultje.
Two days later on January 20, the pair escaped a location at Swan Bay, north east of Raymond Terrace. They called a family member who contacted police – Port Stephens-Hunter Police District officers attended and assessed the pair before they were taken to the John Hunter Hospital for treatment.
The man had to get treatment for his finger which was severed during the incident.
Strike Force Detectives executed two search warrants in Sydney suburbs Smithfield and Cartwright with the assistance of the Public Order and Riot Squad and South West Metropolitan Region Enforcement Squad (RES) on 4 April at about 6:45am.
Two men, aged 24 and 25, were arrested and taken to Fairfield Police Station, where they were both charged with two counts of take/detain in company with intent to ransom occasion actual bodily harm, and one count each of be carried in conveyance taken without consent of owner, and participate criminal group contribute criminal activity.
Police will allege in court that the man and woman at Fairfield were taken to a location in Swan Bay against their will.
The older man was also charged with one count of damage property by fire for a separate incident, where a Molotov cocktail was allegedly thrown towards a home in Bossley Park on 22 January this year.
Both men were refused bail to appear at Fairfield Local Court earlier this month, where they were formally bail refused to reappear before Parramatta Local Court in May.