The alleged armed carjacking of a Beck Taxi driver in downtown Toronto has spurred an investigation by the Special Investigation Unit.
According to the province’s police watchdog, Toronto police officers were called to Spadina Avenue and College Street at around 3 a.m. on Thursday after receiving a call about the carjacking.
Those officers were able to track the vehicle nearly 10 kilometres away, on Clanton Park Road.
At that point, an “interaction” occurred between the officers and the 22-year-old behind the wheel of the stolen taxi, the SIU said, and he was arrested.
However, he was later taken to hospital with what has been described as a “serious injury.”
The badly damaged vehicle was cordoned off by police tape on the front lawn of a home on Clanton Park Road.
In pictures and video sent in by viewers, the rear bumper of the taxi appears almost completely torn off and nearly all the windows are shattered.
“My understanding is that there was a gun involved and that the vehicle was taken from the driver,” Beck Taxi spokesperson, Kristine Hubbard, told CP24.
Toronto police have yet to comment on the incident, but said more information would be provided later.
The SIU has assigned two investigators to the case.
Hubbard said police have not reached out to the company about the investigation.
“The cameras inside the vehicle will be able to give them all the information they need,” Hubbard said. “We will be able to provide them with GPS location if they need that as well.”
The driver is at home “unharmed but shaken up,” she said.
There is no indication that the taxi had any passengers at the time of the incident.
