Bail in kidnapping case

Photo: Deborah Pfeiffer

One of four men who allegedly kidnapped and assaulted a Penticton man last May has been released on bail.

Judge Gale Sinclair set the bail for Carey Anderson at $50,000.

Information earlier released by Penticton RCMP states that on May 21 the man was kidnapped and seriously assaulted in the early morning hours.

The victim was found by a motorist in a ditch on Shingle Creek Road with a broken leg and restraints on his hands.

Four suspects were quickly identified, and John Szanto was arrested the same day and charged with kidnapping, forcible confinement and aggravated assault. A warrant on the same charges was issued for Kerry Ellis and Albert Fontaine.

Ellis was arrested in Summerland on May 22 and Fontaine was arrested in Abbotsford on July 1.

On Aug. 26, a warrant, with the additional charge of choking, was issued for Anderson. He was arrested in Osoyoos on Aug. 28.

All four have been held in custody. A fifth man was arrested and released without charge.

In September, Szanto was sentenced to three years behind bars for a separate incident in which he assaulted a Penticton man in March.

Szanto had turned himself in on the March assault and was out of custody when he was allegedly involved in the kidnapping.

The next court date for Anderson and the other co-accused is Nov. 23.