The lawyer representing a man - accused of killing a toddler when his car crashed into the patio of a south side restaurant in 2013 – says his client was abducted and beaten Thursday night.

Dino Bottos, the lawyer representing Richard Suter, 64, said Suter was taken from his south side home shortly after 11 p.m. Thursday.

“There was a knock on the door and that resulted in Mr. Suter being abducted from his home,” Bottos said. “He was put into a truck or a vehicle and driven away.”

Other sources told CTV News the people who showed up at Suter’s door were posing as undercover police officers.

After Suter was taken away, his wife called police.

Bottos said Suter was driven to a road on the south side where he was pulled from the vehicle, seriously beaten, and then left alone.

Suter was found later by police after he flagged down a passing vehicle and the people inside helped him.

The lawyer said his client remained in hospital with injuries Bottos described as serious and traumatic, but non-life threatening.

Suter has been charged with impaired driving causing death, and four counts of impaired driving causing bodily harm, and a charge of refusing to provide a breath sample.

The charges stemmed from a collision on May 19, 2013, at a south side restaurant – Suter’s car crashed into the patio of the restaurant.

The car struck a table where a family of five seriously injured – one of them, later identified as Geo Mounsef, 2, was pinned under the vehicle, and died as a result of his injuries. The other four members of the family were taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

The mother of Geo issued a statement on Facebook saying the page was created “as a beacon of light for our family in an otherwise extremely dark time.

“Justice for Geo will not come in the form of violence. Our family remains hopeful and entrusting of the legal system to bring Justice for Geo.

“It is utterly heartbreaking to have our Baby Geo’s memory associated with this horrible act of violence.”

Bottos said this is the second attack on the family in the last 18 months.

“The first was on his wife in August of 2013 when she was in a parking lot and getting out of the vehicle,” Bottos said. “[She was] assaulted or accosted by a male individual who had a balaclava on.”

Police said they’re investigating an alleged abduction in southwest Edmonton, and they’re asking anyone who saw or heard anything to call the Edmonton Police Service non-emergency line at 780-423-4567 or #377 on a mobile phone.

Suter’s trial is scheduled to start in early October.

With files from Veronica Jubinville