Man 'in shock' after SUV stolen in one of three Toronto carjackings in two-hour span
A man says he is still in shock after his SUV was stolen from his Scarborough driveway in one of the three carjackings in Toronto that occurred in the span of two hours Wednesday.
“I thought I was dreaming,” the man, who asked not to be identified, told CTV News Toronto, recounting what happened to him.
He said he just got back from Costco and was about to go inside his home in the area of Sheppard Avenue East and Ecopark Gate when a man holding a pistol approached him.
“I was scared when I saw the pistol,” the man said, adding that there was a second man waiting inside a white Hyundai.
“He asked me to leave the key in, leave the car.”
The man said he was also asked to give his wallet and cell phone. He recalled thinking that “This is not real.”
“I was in shock,” the man said.
He added that he’s been living in the neighbourhood for more than two years, and he has not seen an incident like this.
The man said he regarded the area as a safe neighbourhood.
“I have been hearing a lot of things going on, especially carjacking, but I was not expecting that it will happen to me,” the man said.
When asked what he wanted other drivers to know, the man said they should be observant of their surroundings and be vigilant.
“I used to be very careful. But for whatever reason today, I was not giving that much attention,” the man said.
Police said the suspects fled the area with the man’s black Toyota Rav4. They are looking into whether the same suspects were involved in another carjacking 18 kilometres away an hour earlier.
It happened in the area of Alfred Avenue and Longmore Street, north of Sheppard Avenue East, just before 4:30 p.m.
Police said suspects reportedly pulled up in two cars, and one of them brandished a handgun. They stole a white Lexus IS 250 AMDT 138 and fled the scene.
No injuries were reported.
Later in the evening, police were called to a third carjacking in the area of Sheppard Avenue East and Massie Street, more than five kilometres west of the second incident.
Police said two suspects drove up to a man, and one of them produced a handgun.
They then stole his car and fled the scene.
No suspect descriptions have been released in the three incidents, the latest in a string of carjackings in the city. As of Tuesday afternoon, Toronto police said its hold-up unit had responded to 60 armed carjackings, surpassing the 59 incidents they investigated in 2021.
On Monday evening, Toronto Maple Leafs star Mitch Marner became a victim of a carjacking in Etobicoke, with suspects stealing his Range Rover.
He released a statement on Twitter, calling the incident scary.
“To all the fans, my friends and teammates, and the entire Maple Leafs organization – thank you for all your positive messages over the last few days,” Marner tweeted.
- With files from CTV News Toronto's Beth Macdonell
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
"It's a bit of a complicated pattern; we've got a lot going on," said Jennifer Smith of the Meteorological Service of Canada in an interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday. "[As is] typical with weather, all of these things are related."
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.