Foiled kidnapping standoff ends quietly

• Tweet

WHITBY, Ontario, Oct. 17 (UPI) -- A man suspected of abducting a lawyer surrendered peacefully to police east of Toronto Wednesday after a standoff that lasted more than 24 hours.

At 5 a.m., the man surrendered to Durham Regional Police in Whitby, 38 miles east of Toronto, CTV News reported.

He had been holed up in an auto repair shop in an industrial complex since late Monday night after a lawyer for the city of Oshawa, adjacent to Whitby, was kidnapped at gunpoint in his driveway.

Police tracked the kidnap vehicle by the victim's cellphone signal. A brief chase to the industrial area ensued and the victim was released, the Toronto Star said.

While police didn't immediately identify the suspect, various acquaintances and former co-workers said he was former Oshawa City Councilor Robert Lutczyk, the reports said.

Lutczyk lost his council seat in the 2010 election.

He is involved in a lawsuit with the city of Oshawa in which he alleges the city is unlawfully using his intellectual property, CTV said.