Robbery and Serious Crime Squad detectives have charged a woman over her involvement in two alleged kidnappings earlier this year.
Just before midnight on Saturday, November 4, emergency services were called to a unit on Grazier Street in Lidcombe, following reports a 36-year-old man had been assaulted and forced into a vehicle.
About 11pm the following day, the man was found on Lower Washington Drive, Bonnet Bay, suffering facial injuries.
He was treated by NSW Ambulance paramedics before being taken to Sutherland Hospital in a stable condition.
Investigations revealed the incident was linked to the alleged kidnapping of a 44-year-old man from a shop on Park Road in Regents Park on Friday, October 6. He was returned home the following day suffering minor facial injuries.
Detectives from Robbery and Serious Crime Squad established Strike Force Lutetium to investigate and, so far, have charged three people who remain before the courts.
Six people have been charged so far and remain before the courts.
Following further inquiries, about 7:25am on Thursday, December 14, strike force detectives – with assistance from the Public Order and Riot Squad – executed a search warrant in North Ryde, where they arrested a 24-year-old woman.
She was taken to Gladesville Police Station where she was charged with two counts of ‘take/detain in company with intent to ransom occasion actual bodily harm’, ‘conspiracy to take/detain in company with intent to ransom occasion actual bodily harm’, and ‘participate in criminal group’.
The woman was refused bail and appeared before Burwood Local Court the same day.
Police will allege the conspiracy to take/detain relates to a third kidnapping the woman was planning to execute to recover a financial debt.
Inquiries under Strike Force Lutetium continue.
Ellie Busby is a news reporter for Western Sydney Publishing Group. A graduate of the University of Hertfordshire and Western Sydney University, she is a journalism Major. Ellie has worked with Universal Media, The Cova Project and for a range of other organisations. In 2024, Ellie was named Young Writer of the Year at the Mumbrella Publish Awards.