Toronto police have laid a total of 54 charges against three people who allegedly stole two luxury cars and ran over a victim in one carjacking with his own vehicle.
Supt. Andy Singh says the first carjacking took place at around 2 p.m. on April 6 at a parking lot in the east-end neighbourhood of Scarborough.
The driver of a BMW X5 was leaving his vehicle when four males allegedly approached him from behind, pointed a gun at him, demanded his keys and then fled in the BMW and a white SUV they were driving.
About five days later, police allege four suspects assaulted the owner of a Lamborghini Urus at a gas station in the North York area and then fled in the car after running over the victim with his own vehicle, leaving him with non-life-threatening injuries.
Singh says the next day, investigators patrolling near Toronto's Black Creek neighbourhood, west of where the first carjacking happened, got a notification that a Lamborghini Urus that had just passed by was stolen.
After following the car to a nearby gas station, police say suspects driving the stolen BMW X5 also arrived at the same lot and later tried to flee from officers who were approaching them, smashing into the officers' vehicles.
A 21-year-old man from Mississauga, a 19-year-old man from Oakville and a 17-year-old youth from Oshawa are facing dozens of charges and police say one suspect remains outstanding.
Singh said during a news conference on Tuesday that "luckily" the suspects did not use weapons against police while trying to flee "however, they were very readily accessible."
Insp. Joseph Matys noted during the news conference that 47 per cent of the adults and 78 per cent of the youths Ontario's multi-jurisdictional auto theft task force has arrested since it was created in September have been released on bail.
He said Toronto police continue to investigate carjackings and auto thefts across the province with local, national and international partners.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 16, 2024.
The Canadian Press