A man who is suspected of kidnapping Oshawa's city solicitor late Monday night continues to face off against police in a dramatic showdown that has lasted for more than 16 hours.
Oshawa Mayor John Henry confirmed city solicitor David Potts was abducted outside his Clarington home and that he was "held against his will" for an unspecified amount of time by his captor.
Sources told CTV Toronto that Potts was kidnapped at gunpoint as he was arriving from a council meeting.
Potts was eventually able to escape and police say he is now safe and was unharmed in the incident.
Meanwhile, police are trying to apprehend the suspect, who has barricaded himself inside a Whitby auto shop since about 2 a.m.
Investigators believe the suspect they are delicately trying to negotiate with is former Oshawa city councillor Robert Lutczyk.
Hopkins Street has been closed all day between Highway 2 and Consumer Drive to accomodate the heavy police presence in the area. Dozens of police cars are on the scene along with an armoured vehicle, tactical officers and an ambulance as negotiators try and coax the suspect out of the building.
Officers from York Regional Police have also been brought to the scene to help relieve crews who have been on site from the start of the ordeal.
Henry told CTV News that he received a call from police at around 11 p.m. about a disturbance at Potts’ house.
Police told him they had received a call from Potts’ wife, who reported the abduction.
Both police and Henry refused to give too many details about the case as it is an ongoing investigation.
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