Qld: Police charge man over Coast abduction attempts

AAP General News (Australia)
04-26-2004
Qld: Police charge man over Coast abduction attempts

BRISBANE, April 26 AAP - A man was charged with kidnapping when he appeared in a Gold
Coast court today after the attempted abductions of two women.

Simon Matthew Von Pearson, 34, of Nerang, was charged with two counts of kidnapping,
two of causing grievous bodily harm and one count of stealing, police said.

Southport Magistrates Cour was told the charges related to two separate incidents -
the most recent on Saturday when a 20-year-old woman was grabbed in the heart of Surfers
Paradise and thrown into the back of a car.

A nearby unit owner heard the woman scream at around 3.15am and confronted the man.

This gave the woman the opportunity to jump out of the car but the man drove off.

In the second incident, a 22-year-old woman was forced into the boot of a car at Southport
on February 28 while returning home from a nightclub.

Police said the woman managed to escape by freeing the latch on the boot and throwing
herself clear of the vehicle as it drove through the Gold Coast suburb of Nerang.

Von Pearson was remanded in custody until June 10.

AAP jfs/was/cjh/br

KEYWORD: ABDUCT COURT

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