Cops, Army rescue abducted woman

ARMY and police officers stormed a Laventille house Friday evening and rescued a Belmont woman who had earlier been abducted in San Juan.

The Laventille man has since been charged with kidnapping and assaulting the 40-year-old woman.  He is due to appear before a Port-of-Spain magistrate tomorrow. Charges were laid by Ag Cpl James of the Barataria/El Socorro Criminal Investigations Department. According to police, Francine Burnett, of St Francois Valley Road, was walking along Boundary Road, San Juan, around 5.30 pm Friday. North Eastern Division police said a man from Picton Road, Laventille approached Burnett, placed a knife to her throat then forced her into a vehicle against her will.

Police said the man drove Burnett to a house at Picton Road, Laventille, where he reportedly began to beat her.  Army and police officers from the Inter-Agency Task Force who were at the time patrolling the area heard the woman’s screams and subsequently stormed the house. They rescued the woman and arrested the man. The woman was taken to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital for medical attention. The man was first taken to the Besson Street Police Station, after which he was transported to the Barataria Station, the area of the abduction.