Officers from Central West Police District were called to a property on Henry Parkes Way, Ootha – near Condobolin – about 11am on Tuesday, following reports a man had been assaulted and his house set alight.

Police will allege in court that three armed men forced entry to the home about 5.30am and assaulted the 68-year-old male occupant, knocking him unconscious, and deliberately set the home alight with him inside.

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The men then allegedly kidnapped the man’s partner – a 71-year-old woman, her 41-year-old daughter and two grandsons, aged 13 and 14.

Detectives from the Robbery and Serious Crime Squad, assisted by the Financial Crimes Squad’s Arson Unit, and North West Metropolitan, Western, and Northern Regions, established Strike Force Stolle to recover the women and children, and conduct inquiries into the circumstances surrounding the incident.

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A crime scene was established at the Ootha property, which was examined by specialist forensic officers.

The 68-year-old man was airlifted to Orange Hospital, where he remains in a stable condition.

With the assistance of the Real Time Intelligence Centre, and Transport for NSW’s Traffic Management Centre and Roads and Maritime Services, officers located the two vehicles travelling in convoy through Sandy Hollow and Jerrys Plains, in the state’s Hunter region.

PolAir continued to monitor the vehicles and, about 7.15pm, the vehicles pulled over on Putty Road, near Colo, where the older woman and two boys managed to escape and alert a local resident.

Local police attended the home and took the woman and children to Hawkesbury Hospital as a precaution.

A short time later, two men – aged 23 and 29 – ran from one of the vehicles, which was damaged, and were arrested near Sackville.

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The pair were taken to Windsor Police Station and charged with special aggravated break and enter and commit serious indictable offence-weapon; destroy/damage building by fire with intent to murder, take/detain in company with intent to get advantage-occasion actual bodily harm, four counts of take/detain person in company with intent to get advantage, and use offensive weapon to prevent lawful detention.

They were refused bail and appeared at Penrith Local Court on Wednesday, where they were formally refused bail to appear at Parkes Local Court on Monday, December 17.

About 11.30pm on Tuesday, officers from the Tactical Operations Unit and Dog Unit, with the assistance of PolAir, located the man and woman in bushland near Blaxlands Ridge, about 20 kilometres north of Windsor.

The 44-year-old man was arrested and taken to Westmead Hospital for examination before being taken to Parramatta Police Station.

The 41-year-old woman was taken into the care of local police and conveyed to hospital for examination before she was reunited with her family.

The man was charged with special aggravated break and enter and commit serious indictable offence-weapon; destroy/damage building by fire with intent to murder, take/detain in company with intent to get advantage-occasion actual bodily harm, four counts of take/detain person in company with intent to get advantage, use offensive weapon to prevent lawful detention, and contravene prohibition/restriction in AVO (domestic).

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He has been refused bail to appear at Parramatta Local Court on Thursday.

Investigations are continuing.