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Man kidnapped while sitting in vehicle at southern Alberta McDonald’s: police

Man brandishing machete approached driver’s vehicle just before midnight on Sunday
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FILE - A “Drive-Thru” sign stands outside a McDonald’s restaurant in Phoenix on Oct. 21, 2017. Police in southern Alberta are looking for a suspect who kidnapped a man who was sitting in his vehicle in a McDonald’s parking lot Sunday, Oct. 20, 2019 in Lethbridge. (Bloomberg photo by Caitlin O’Hara.)

Police in southern Alberta are looking for a suspect who kidnapped a man who was sitting in his vehicle in a McDonald’s parking lot.

Investigators say a man brandishing a large machete approached the driver’s vehicle just before midnight Sunday in Lethbridge.

They say the suspect jumped in and forced the driver to go to an ATM and withdraw money from his own account.

The suspect then forced the man to drive to a supervised drug consumption site before heading to the Blood reserve where the driver was left behind.

He flagged down a passerby, but the suspect returned in the driver’s vehicle and began to chase both the man and the person who had stopped to help.

They were able to call 911 and several police agencies were called in to chase the stolen vehicle, which was eventually founded abandoned in Fort Macleod.

The driver was not seriously injured and did not need medical attention.

“Any random act like this is not exactly something that is normal or common in our community. It’s obviously very alarming,” Insp. Jason Walper said at a news conference Monday.

“This is somebody that is not known to the victim.”

Walper suggested that people needing to use parking lots at night should lock their doors and stick to well-lit sites with lots of people around. (The Canadian Press, LethbridgeNewsNow)

The Canadian Press

READ MORE: Suspect wanted in Maskwacis kidnapping attempt

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