A man charged with kidnapping a Saanich teenager in December is scheduled to have a bail hearing today.
Kian Chong, 34, appeared by video in Victoria provincial court Thursday from the Vancouver Island Regional Correctional Centre. He 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 her with a weapon that night. Chong, who worked at a Victoria restaurant, is also charged with having his face masked with intent to commit an indictable offence.
Chong was quiet and polite as his defence lawyer, Martin Allen, made an application for a bail hearing.
About 6:30 p.m. on Dec. 3, police raced to the 1700 block of De Sousa Place in Saanich after receiving several 911 calls about a masked man grabbing a girl on 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 with a knife. The suspect drove off when he heard police sirens.
The girl pushed into the van was unhurt but the second girl was treated at hospital for a cut that required stitches.
“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 on 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.
Investigators believe the suspect discarded some clothing on Hillside Avenue between Shelbourne and Doncaster. Police asked anyone who may have picked up clothing that night to contact them at 250-475-4356.
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