A man charged with kidnapping a Saanich teenager in December will remain in custody.
On Friday, Victoria provincial court Judge Josiah Wood denied an application to release Kian Chong, 34, who is charged with kidnapping and assaulting a 17-year-old girl with a weapon on the evening of Dec. 3.
Chong is also charged with assault causing bodily harm to a second teenage girl and assaulting that girl with a weapon that night. In addition, Chong, who worked at a Victoria restaurant, is charged with having his face masked with intent to commit an indictable offence.
As he entered the courtroom Friday, Chong smiled and waved at his sister and friends, who sat in the back row.
During lengthy submissions from prosecutor Patrick Weir and defence lawyer Martin Allen, the slightly built Asian man appeared subdued, placing his hand over his face and closing his eyes.
The proceedings cannot be reported because a publication ban is in place.
Chong’s next court appearance has been scheduled for Jan. 24. At that time, he will elect whether to be tried by judge alone or judge and jury.
Police said they raced to the 1700-block of De Sousa Place in Saanich after receiving several 911 calls about a masked man grabbing a girl in her driveway. The girl was pushed into a white U-Haul van but managed to escape when a friend came to help her. When the second teen confronted the man, she was slashed. The suspect drove off when he heard police sirens.
The girl pushed into the van was unhurt but the second girl was treated in hospital for a cut that required stitches, police said.
“We believe the direct actions of the second 17-year-old young lady really assisted with allowing the initial victim to escape,” Saanich police Sgt. Dean Jantzen said at the time.
Later, police found the van in the 1800-block of Fairburn Drive. Investigators tracked the van’s licence plate to a U-Haul outlet and received information about the person who had rented it.
Police said the teenager knew her attacker.
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