CALGARY — Police in Calgary say an RCMP officer pulled over a man wanted in a child’s kidnapping but didn’t realize the victim was sitting in the front seat of his van.
The 10-year-old girl hadn’t yet been reported missing when the Mountie stopped the vehicle for a traffic violation, and she was too scared to say anything to the officer.
The driver was given a traffic ticket and drove away.
The girl was dropped off a short time later at a McDonald’s near Airdrie north of Calgary.
Arrest warrants have been issued for 43-year-old John Francis Dionne of Linden, AB.
Dionne is charged with kidnapping, child abduction, assault, robbery and impersonating a police officer.
The girl was taken to Alberta Children’s Hospital in Calgary as a precaution.
Police say she was shopping with her dad Thursday night at Deerfoot Mall in the city’s northeast when they became separated.
Staff Sgt. Brad Moore said that’s when a man approached her, said he was a police officer and accused her of shoplifting. The girl went with him, but became suspicious and started questioning him.
The man then grabbed her and took her to a green Dodge Caravan van.
Police are asking that anyone with information that could lead to an arrest contact them.