Man charged in carjacking of minivan with elderly woman inside

Peel police have charged a man with kidnapping, breach of probation and robbery after he allegedly carjacked a minivan containing an elderly Mississauga woman on the weekend.

The man, 30, of no fixed address, appeared in court on Sunday for a bail hearing. He faces two counts of robbery.

Shortly before 2 p.m. on Saturday, the woman, 96, was in the passenger seat of the minivan, a blue Toyota Sienna, in a plaza parking lot at North Service Road and Dixie Road in Mississauga, when the man allegedly entered the vehicle.

The woman uses a wheelchair and was left in the vehicle by a family member, according to Const. Iryna Yashnyk, spokesperson for Peel Regional Police.

The man then allegedly drove off with the woman still inside.

Man arrested short distance from vehicle

Police allege the man took the woman to a bank, where her debit card was used repeatedly to withdraw cash. He allegedly then abandoned her and the vehicle in the area of Speers Road and Kerr Street in Oakville.

The woman was not injured and her vehicle was not damaged, Yashnyk said.

"The suspect was reported to have been driving in an erratic manner, so I'm sure it was a traumatic event for the victim," she said.

Halton Regional Police arrested the man a short distance away.

Police did not say how much money he allegedly obtained.

Anyone with information about the carjacking is asked to call police at the central robbery bureau at (905) 453-2121 ext. 3410.