Police have arrested a man who they believe forced himself into a woman's car and ordered her to drive off on the Gold Coast on Monday evening.
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The 26-year-old woman endured a "traumatising" drive up the M1 after the stranger got into her car, pulled her hair and covered her mouth with his hands to stop her from screaming, police said.
The girl was walking to her car at the Robina Town Centre, on the phone to her mother when the man forced her into the car, about 5pm.
Her car’s bluetooth system kicked in at that point, which allowed her mother to hear her daughter being abducted, Detective Inspector Brendan Smith said.
She hung up on her daughter and called police.
“We were very lucky then that police could actually ring the victim’s phone and speak to the offender and negotiate with him to let her pull over," Inspector Smith said.
The man had ordered the 26-year-old to drive north on the M1, towards Brisbane.
Thanks to the work of a police negotiator, she was able to pull the car off the motorway near exit 66 at Gaven and the man fled into bushland.
Inspector Smith said the man then hitched a ride with other motorists down to Mudgeeraba shortly after.
“We are keen to speak to that motorist," he said.
Police said the man was not armed and were concerned about his mental health.
"There was certainly no suggestion that it was motivated by any desire to harm the girl," Inspector Smith said.
“We have a person of interest in mind and we are in the process at the moment of trying to tracking them down.
He said high definition CCTV footage helped police identify the person of interest.
Police reported on Tuesday evening that a 47-year-old man was in police custody and was expected to be charged later in the night.
Police were investigating an incident where a man tried to get into another car that was stopped at traffic lights at Robina later on Monday.
