Alleged abductor faces psych examination

A 50-year-old man has been ordered to geta psychiatric evaluation as he facescharges in the abduction of a woman from the parkade of the Halifax airport on Wednesday.

Ross Nelson Garlandappeared in Dartmouth provincial courtFriday, where he was arraigned on charges of robbery, forcible confinement and possession of a weapon.

Garland turned his face away from mediaat the courthouse. He will go through an assessment of mental fitness and criminal responsibilitybefore returning to court on Oct. 16.

Garland was arrested in Moncton without incident at about 4:45 p.m. Thursday.

Dorette Pronk, 41, told police she was approached by a man in the parking garage at the Halifax Stanfield International Airport around 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, after she dropped off a passenger who was catching a flight.

Claimed to havegun

The man forced his way into her car and ordered her to drive to Truro, about an hour east of Halifax. She said the man told her he had a gun and held something against her chest.

"He said, 'I need you to leave right now and go as fast as possible,'" Pronk told CBC News.

On the way, the man made her stop at a bank machine in Brookfield, N.S., and withdraw $400 from her account. Once they arrived in Truro, the man made several other withdrawals from her account.

Pronk said the man eventually ordered her to drive down a dirt road. When they stopped, he told her to get out of the car and into the trunk. She refused.

"I screamed and I ran," she said. "I still don't know what happened to him and why he didn't come after me, or whether he did."

Pronk ran to a nearby home and called the police.

Garland is known to Halifax police. On Monday, he was arrested and charged with assault and aggravated assault.

He was released from custodyTuesday with an order to keep the peace and stay away from the Holiday Inn in Dartmouth. On Sept. 6, Garland was charged with theft under $5,000 and possession of stolen property.

He has 11 prior criminal convictions for such things as fraud, theft, aggravated assault, escaping lawful custody and impaired driving.