Victim of attempted carjacking says she’s more 'sad' than angry after teen arrested
The victim of an attempted carjacking on Tuesday says she was in "shock" as three males demanded she hand over her vehicle's keys outside a Walmart Supercentre in Etobicoke.
The incident happened in broad daylight at a crowded Walmart parking lot near Islington Avenue and Bergamot Avenue.
Speaking to CP24, the victim, who asked not to be identified, says she was getting out of her car when she saw a young person walk towards her and told her "give me your keys."
The incident happened at around 5:45 p.m. The victim says she started backing away while the three suspects demanded she pass over her keys.
"They grabbed at my purse; just by nature I held onto it. I fell, and when I fell, they got my purse. I started to scream, scream, scream so loud," she said.
That scream proved pivotal, she said. Bystanders soon came to the victims aid. The suspects failed to open the woman's car, and decided to run.
"I just want to thank everyone who did stop," she said. "If people had jjust kept driving by, I think they would, it would have ended up differently."
Two of the suspects fled on foot. One bystander was able to subdue a suspect until police arrived. Police said they recovered a fire arm replica at the scene. The victim never saw a gun.
"That scared me," she said. "Because up until that point, I thought they were just kids trying to steal my car. When I heard there was a gun that kind of shook me a little bit."
The victim said she suffered some injuries to her hand, knee and elbow.
Today, police announced that a 16-year-old Toronto boy has been charged with robbery with a firearm and disguise with intent. Police are still trying to identify the other two suspects.
On Monday night Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner was held at gunpoint as three suspects made off with his black Range Rover outside a movie theatre on Islington and the Queensway. In addition, on Saturday, two people attempted to carjack a woman in the same parking lot.
According to police there have now been 61 car jackings in the city so far this year. There were just 59 in all of last year.
Today, Mayor John Tory acknowledged that carjackings have become a real problem in the city.
"The chief and his people are on this, they are applying resources to it to try and stop this activity, and they've been successful in having quite a number of arrests in the last number of weeks," he said.
Yesterday, police announced the arrest of a 17-year-old boy charged in connection to a car jacking from last week.
With the two latest arrests being males who are 16 and 17-years-old, the victim in yesterday's incident says she isn't angry.
"It made me sad," she said. "When I looked into the guy's eyes who came to me, like he looked so young, I mean even so soft-spoken and if anything I feel sad."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
First court appearance for boy and girl charged in death of Halifax 16-year-old
A girl and a boy, both 14 years old, made their first appearance today in a Halifax courtroom, where they each face a second-degree murder charge in the stabbing death of a 16-year-old high school student.