Toronto police have arrested six people in connection with a string of "vicious" home invasion robberies in the Greater Toronto Area, some of which involved using a woman as bait.
Staff Insp. Bruce Crawford said some of the alleged robberies involved a woman who would befriend males to gain information about their homes and personal possessions.
"A female accomplice would befriend a male in a bar and obtain from him certain personal information," he told reporters gathered at a Toronto news conference on Friday afternoon.
The people responsible for the home invasions would then use the information to find out where the victims lived, Crawford said.
The woman would then set up a date with the victim, head back to his house and undertake a robbery with the help of associates.
In other cases, the victims did not have contact with a female prior to being robbed, Crawford said.
"Sometimes the victims were completely accidental," Crawford said. "They were confronted coming back from the garbage chute in their apartment and they were intercepted and their door was kicked down."
In other cases, the alleged assailants dressed up as utility repairpersons.
Crawford said the robberies were "vicious" and involved the use of guns, heated knives, death threats and other forms of violence.
Women, senior citizens and children were among the victims, he said.
"In all of these cases, the victims appeared to be completely innocent victims with no nefarious criminal activity before," he said.
Crawford said the people responsible for the robberies were out to obtain cash, jewelry and other valuables.
The accused have been charged in connection with nine alleged robberies, Crawford said.
Police say the alleged robberies took place between Jan. 15 and July 29.
Dozens of charges have been laid, but more may follow.
"There are more -- we believe there are home invasion robberies and carjacking-type robberies that have not been reported," Crawford said.
York Regional Police have interest in investigating some of these additional robberies, Crawford said.
The arrested parties include a 17-year-old female, a 21-year-old Toronto man, a 24-year-old Pickering, Ont., man, a 19-year-old man of no fixed address, a 19-year-old Brampton, Ont., man, and a 20-year-old Ajax, Ont., woman.
"We investigated multiple offenders, multiple locations and we have executed multiple search warrants and recovered one handgun so far," Crawford said.
Police have also issued a warrant for an additional suspect, a 22-year-old man who is believed to be armed and to have previously lived in Scarborough.
Pierre Ellis is described as a brown man, 5'10" in height and weighing 178 pounds. He has short black hair.
Anyone with information is asked to call police at 416-808-7350, or to call Crime Stoppers at 416-222-8477. Members of the public can also submit tips online at www.222tips.com, or by texting TOR and their message to CRIMES (274637).
