Sleeping victim inside stolen camper

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This article was published 04/10/2022 (1122 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Two men stopped for the night on a rural road off Highway 16 were robbed of their truck and camper trailer early Saturday — while one of the men was sleeping inside.

Portage la Prairie RCMP were sent to the scene of the reported robbery and kidnapping on Provincial Road 227 in the Rural Municipality of Westlake-Gladstone at about 4:30 a.m.

The two victims, who were travelling in the truck with a camper trailer, had pulled over on the road, just off Highway 16, to sleep for the night, RCMP said.

One of the men was sleeping in the truck while the other was in the camper, RCMP said, when three male suspects opened the truck door and yelled at the first victim to get out of the vehicle.

The 33-year-old man was assaulted and threatened with a gun, RCMP said.

The three suspects got in the truck and ran over the victim as they peeled off in the truck with the trailer in tow.

Mounties said the suspects knew the other victim was asleep in the camper as they fled.

RCMP officers found the truck and camper a “short time later” near the intersection of highways 16 and 50. The suspects had fled, RCMP said.

The second victim, a 69-year-old man from India, was found safe inside the trailer.

The younger victim was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

RCMP have not yet found the suspects, who they describe as possibly Hispanic or Indigenous. All wore dark clothing, and one of the men had a large build and wore a dark mask over his face, RCMP said.

Mounties have asked anyone with information on the incident to call the local RCMP detachment at 204-857-4445 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477.