Gatineau Police say two men, age 37 and 39, are facing kidnapping, assault, and sexual assault charges, and more, after attempting to take the law into their own hands.
Police say after midnight, July 2nd, three teenagers were caught by one of the men, allegedly attempting to steal money from inside a parked car.
The teens fled, but the second man caught up to one of them, and then allegedly grabbed him and locked him in a car, demanding he reveal where the other two live.
This led to a series of events in which police claim one of the men broke into a home and forcibly removed one of the teens, the other stripped him naked and forced him to walk in front of a car and through bushes, before they arrived at the home of the third teen. The suspects then allegedly got into an argument and threatened the teen’s parents.
The parents were able to convince the men to leave and police were called later that day.
Police arrested the two men Wednesday morning.
39-year-old Claude Poitras and 37-year-old Marc Andre Essiambre appeared in Gatineau court Wednesday afternoon. They're facing:
Police say the teens’ injuries were minor and they’ve been given psychological treatment.
Andrée East with the Gatineau Police tells CTV News, “We've never seen something like this before. At this point, for us it's a big event.”
“You can't make justice for yourself,” East says, “even if you have been the victim of a crime, whatever that crime is.”
Gatineau Police say citizens do have minor powers to make a citizen’s arrest if the need arises, but say that police should be immediately called upon doing so.
Police also suggest parents should have frank discussions with their children about the risks of criminal activity. Not only will they face legal consequences, young people may find themselves in dangerous situations. However, police say they did not receive any complaints about cars being broken into, and there is no investigation into any alleged vehicle break-ins.
People in Buckingham say while they understand the frustration over criminal acts, vigilante justice is not the answer.
“That action should remain in the hands of police, not individual people,” says one woman.
“It is really stupid,” says another woman, “just call the police, the police will do the job.”
“It’s not the right way to teach someone a lesson in that you’re embarrassing that child,” says a man as he walks down the streets of Buckingham with his young child.
“It is frustrating that some don't get caught,” says a woman on her bicycle, “that police don't come in time but to teach a lesson, that's not the citizen's job to do.”
With files from CTV Ottawa.