Two kidnapping suspects, both pharmacists in their 70s, let their zeal to help a struggling old woman get out of hand, their lawyer said yesterday.

Laura Stewart, 72, and Earl R. Cross, 76, were arraigned in the abduction of Mrs. Stewart's older sister from her Hill District apartment. Police said they tied her up with duct tape, forced her into a vehicle and drove her to suburban Cleveland against her will.

They took the victim, Evelyn Poynter, 83, from her garbage-filled home because she has dementia and is unable to care for herself, said Caroline Roberto, the attorney representing both suspects.

"This was more of an inartful rescue mission than a crime," Ms. Roberto said in an interview. "Once the dust settles, we believe there will be minimal evidence that a crime occurred."

Her clients are scheduled to have a preliminary hearing Jan. 13, at which prosecutors would have to present enough evidence to send the case to trial. Ms. Roberto said she expected both to be released from jail on $20,000 bail and returned to their homes in Shaker Heights, Ohio, until the hearing.

Pittsburgh police said the suspects kidnapped Ms. Poynter on Dec. 28, enlisting the help of a man from the Hill District.

A police informant said the third suspect, identified by detectives as Darnell Randall, 48, asked neighbors for help in physically removing Ms. Poynter from her apartment at 815 1/2 Clarissa St.

The informant said Mr. Randall knocked on his door and said he needed assistance to carry his "aunt" to a black Cadillac Escalade with Ohio plates. He said she needed hospital care but did not want to go. Mr. Randall knew Ms. Poynter, but is not related to her, police said.

Like her sister, Ms. Poynter spent her working life as a pharmacist. She received her license in 1948 and practiced for 40 years, according to state records.

In retirement, her life went into a downward spiral, Ms. Roberto said. She said Ms. Poynter was living in squalor and forgetting to pay her bills, a common sign of dementia.

"Her sister paid her utilities and taxes on the building she lived in for months leading up to this," Ms. Roberto said.

Allegheny County property records tell a different story.

Ms. Stewart is listed as the owner of the four-unit apartment building where Ms. Poynter lived. County property taxes on the building have not been paid for the past two years. The county filed lawsuits against Ms. Stewart in an attempt to collect the debts, which total $600.

Nobody answered the door at Ms. Poynter's apartment yesterday. In the criminal complaint, police said the interior of her home was in "deplorable" condition, filled with trash.

Ms. Roberto said this led to a visit by a fire marshal after Ms. Poynter returned to Pittsburgh. Unclear yesterday was whether Ms. Poynter had been moved elsewhere because of the condition of her dwelling.

Police said Mr. Cross, a friend of Ms. Stewart's, helped in the abduction. They allege that he and Ms. Stewart used duct tape to bind Ms. Poynter's hands and feet. Police said her hands were bruised when she was checked at a Cleveland-area hospital after the kidnapping.

Ms. Roberto said she had a different understanding of the duct tape's purpose. She said the tape merely kept a blanket attached to Ms. Poynter, who had on no pants or socks when Ms. Stewart and Mr. Cross took her from her home.

They are charged with kidnapping, unlawful restraint, false imprisonment, conspiracy and simple assault.

Neither has a criminal record, Ms. Roberto said. More important, she said, the suspects had no criminal intent when they took Ms. Poynter.

"This wasn't a case about money or sex the way we usually think of kidnapping," Ms. Roberto said. "This was a case of two people trying to help somebody who needed it."