Two men charged with abducting and sexually assaulting a woman in Gatineau this week appeared in court Wednesday, with police saying they may have links to organized crime.
Abel Santana Solano, aged 32 of Gatineau, and 27-year-old Alejandro Wilky Santana-Espinosa of Ottawa are both charged with sexual assault with a firearm, kidnapping, forcible confinement, pointing a firearm and armed robbery.
"Those two guys are well known by the police force and it's a possibility that they are related to organized crime," said Const. Pierre Lanthier of the Gatineau police.
French-language newspaper Le Droit is reporting Espinosa was just released from prison after serving 44 months for killing a motorcyclist in 2007 while speeding.
The charges come after a 20-year-old woman said she was leaving a bar in Ottawa's ByWard Market when she was taken against her will and brought to a home on Rue des Capucines in Gatineau's Hull sector.
She escaped and called police, who broke into the home to Tuesday afternoon to find it empty.
Police were at that same home Wednesday, searching for evidence and finding an imitation handgun used during the incident.
Police said a woman who was initially arrested was cleared of involvement, but there will be more arrests to come.
"There will be more arrests later on, if not today then in the next few days," Lanthier said. "In that case there were more than two suspects involved."
With a report from CTV Ottawa's Karen Soloman
