Latest news with #autotheft

Globe and Mail
09-07-2025
- Globe and Mail
The police will be there immediately – in more than two hours
Last year, a Toronto police officer speaking at a community event suggested that residents leave their car keys by their front door to avoid violent confrontations with potential home invaders. The implication was that break-and-enters in the area were simply going to happen – home invasions and auto theft occurrences had risen 400 per cent the previous year, according to the Toronto Police Service – so it was best to give the criminals what they wanted: your car. The suggestion immediately went viral; it became a meme, a punchline, and a tacit admission that law enforcement could not protect you, your home or your property. But the most grating thing about the suggestion was that it was actually good advice. The reality in big cities like Toronto was – and arguably still is – that police cannot keep up, so leaving your car keys by your front door was a logical way to mitigate your risk of bodily harm from intruders. You could've still tried to call 9-1-1, but you might have been put on hold. The police would be dispatched, but that year, at least in Toronto, it took on average 20 minutes for them to arrive. And if the perpetrators were eventually caught, they'd likely be released on bail anyway. So, yeah, might as well just leave your keys by the front door. Various metrics have improved since then. Auto thefts are down roughly 20 per cent nationally, though they're still unacceptably high, especially in Alberta and regions in Ontario. Police response times are down (by an impressive seven minutes on average in Toronto), but the police themselves still say that they cannot keep up. And visible signs of disorder and dysfunction – homelessness (which doubled in Toronto over the last three years), open drug use (a growing problem in cities like Victoria) and brazen crimes like carjackings (which doubled in the York region of Ontario last summer) – fuel perceptions of social breakdown. And when people feel as though society has broken down, they take the law into their own hands. In Ottawa last week, a man apprehended a robbery suspect who was in the process of demanding cash from an employee at a Pet Valu (one that he had allegedly robbed about a week earlier). People in the store called 9-1-1 multiple times after the suspect was detained, but it took police over two hours to arrive at the scene. The Ottawa Police Service subsequently released a statement saying it 'appreciated the public's vigilance,' but added that it does 'not encourage citizens to attempt arrests. If you witness a crime in progress, please call police immediately.' The statement did not mention whether the response time for a crime-in-progress would be less than two hours. In Oakville, Ont. last month, a family whose home was targeted for the second time in less than a month chased off intruders using baseball bats and a fire extinguisher. The homeowners said that after they were targeted the first time, they started sleeping with the objects in their bedroom. A week before that, a homeowner in Vaughan, Ont. was charged for firing his gun when he spotted five suspects attempting to steal his car. In February, two people were shot dead during a home invasion near Cornwall, Ont., though police noted that the residents of the home were uninjured. It is not hard to infer what happened there. Certain crime rates are indeed improving. But people don't care about statistics when their cars disappear from their driveways, or they hear about their neighbours chasing intruders with baseball bats. There are too many reports of people on probation or released on bail offending over and over again; too many reports of police arriving too late on the scene, or not arriving at all. The cumulative effect is a fundamental breakdown in trust between the public, police and the wider justice system. When that trust breaks down, people take safety and the law into their own hands. The most innocuous consequence is that people leave their car keys by their front doors so that intruders will enter and leave. But a more precarious effect is people form vigilante squads, try to apprehend suspects in the midst of a crime or even seek licenses to possess firearms (notably, the number of Canadians with firearms licenses rose four per cent from 2022 to 2023, and 2.5 per cent from 2023 to 2024). On Christmas Eve 2023, in Fort Langley, B.C., a group of fathers decided to patrol their neighbourhood to track down a man wanted in a spate of thefts in the area. They caught the suspect. We cannot fault individuals for feeling as though the onus is on them to protect themselves. But we can try can to tackle the reasons why they feel that way in the first place.


CTV News
01-07-2025
- CTV News
Suspects sought after 2 west end auto thefts
Windsor police are asking for the public's help in two auto theft investigations in the west side of the city. Officers responded to a report of an abandoned vehicle in the 5200 block of Malden Road shortly before 8 a.m. on June 26. A preliminary investigation revealed that the vehicle was stolen from a residence in the 3600 block of Girardot Street, before being abandoned in a ditch along Malden. About an hour later, officers responded to an attempted vehicle theft at a residence in the 1000 block of Brock Street. Officers learned that a suspect had unsuccessfully attempted to steal the car, causing damage to the ignition before fleeing the scene. Investigators are asking residents and business owners in the area bordered by Prince Road, Tecumseh Road, Huron Church Road, and Millen Street to review their surveillance or dash cam footage, specifically in the early morning hours of June 26, for video evidence that may assist with the investigation. Anyone with information is asked to call the Target Base Unit at 519-255-6700, ext. 4350. They can also contact Windsor & Essex County Crime Stoppers anonymously at 519-258-8477 (TIPS) or online at


CBS News
24-06-2025
- Automotive
- CBS News
Auto thefts drop across North Texas, the I-Team finds
After several years of skyrocketing numbers, auto thefts have fallen across Texas. Reports from the Texas Department of Public Safety show an overall decrease of 17% from 2023 to 2024, and the I-Team analyzed data to find some local cities reporting even better results. CBS News Texas Dallas sees decrease in stolen cars For example, Dallas experienced a 23% decline, with numbers continuing to fall in early 2025. The police department credits the decrease to several efforts, including faster intake of reports and an increase in cameras across the city. According to Major Raymario Sanchez, state funding paid for an additional 200 Flock cameras along streets and intersections, which alert officers to stolen vehicles in real time. "Wherever it hits in the city, let's say it's 75 and Northwest highway, it will notify the officer that's where the vehicle's at," Sanchez said. "And they can track it from there and follow behind once they get with it." Auto theft hot spots While the numbers are down, thieves are targeting a new set of hot spots in the city. Sanchez said the area around the NorthPark Center mall used to top the list, but now that distinction goes to Bishop Arts. Employees in that area said a few of the recent thefts involved gig workers. "A lot of delivery drivers who are here to pick up their food will just run in," said Bethany Mieth, the owner of Oasis Plant Shop. She said with limited parking, some drivers leave their cars in the street. "And I think people will just wait, and they'll jump in and take their car." Here are the current hot spots for auto thefts in Dallas, according to DPD: Bishop Arts area Technology and Northwest Highway area Exall Park area Kessler Plaza area Pinnacle Point Drive area The I-Team compiled data from dozens of cities to build this map showing changes from 2023 to 2024. Tracking thieves Cameras are also helping bring down the crime in White Settlement, where auto thefts fell 26%. "You can't enter our city without being on a camera," said Chris Cook, the police chief. "I'll give credit to the team, they're really working hard. When those Flock hits alert on a stolen vehicle, they're going after it, even if it's not stolen here." Cook said grants from the state helped pay for extra manpower to target the hot spots in the city, including the hotels and motels. "We pair officers together and they can work overtime," said Cook. "And they were concentrating, really saturating those areas." Owners fight back The I-Team found it's not just police, but vehicle owners are also stepping up security with a mix of new and old technology. At a recent car meet-up in Keller, people said they used a range of tools to keep their cars secure, from kill switch devices and Apple AirTags to The Club, a steering wheel locking device. In Dallas, the I-Team met a man who said his anti-theft system has prevented thieves from stealing his truck at least four times. The technology, from Texas-based company Ravelco, is a twist on a kill switch and has been around since the 1970s. The only way to start the vehicle is by plugging in a cap that completes electrical circuits, allowing the engine to turn over. "It takes them too long to figure out what the combination would be to complete the circuits," Neuman said. "Thieves don't want to spend that much time trying to figure out how to steal your vehicle." He showed the I-Team surveillance video of the last time thieves attempted to steal his truck from his driveway in March. It shows four men armed with guns and a tablet spend more than three minutes trying to start the pickup. At one point, two of them aim their guns at Neuman's front door. Neuman had no idea what was happening at the time, but he said the video is unsettling. "My girls' bedrooms are at the front of the house," he said. "When you see video of someone pointing guns at your front door and at the bedrooms of your kids, you get really scared."
Yahoo
17-06-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
How to prevent your vehicle from being stolen amid Canada's auto theft crisis
Andrew Hurtado was fast asleep in his Innisfil, Ont. home one night in March when his $70,000 2023 Toyota Tundra was stolen from his driveway. The thief quickly turned off Hurtado's car alarm before it had the chance to wake him. Police later found the vehicle in Scarborough, Ont., but not before it racked up $21,000 in damages. 'Now we are paranoid,' said Hurtado. 'There's definitely a trauma associated with this.' Auto theft has been a national problem in Canada for some time now, says Amanda Dean, vice-president of Ontario and Atlantic with the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC), an association representing home, auto and business insurance companies. And it's not only the direct victims who pay the price. 'The more pressure that there is on claims, the more pressure there will then be on [insurance] premiums,' Dean said. 'We, as insurers, certainly want to work to keep those numbers down.' In Ontario, a particular hot spot for auto theft, the number of insurance claims has risen 165 per cent since 2017, and the costs to service those claims are up 538 per cent, new data from IBC reveal. In Toronto, where the large majority of vehicles are stolen, 63 per cent of residents 'live in fear' that their vehicle will be taken, the report says. Canada's top stolen vehicles include Toyota Highlander, Dodge Ram 1500 Series, Lexus RX Series, Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4, according to Équité Association, a not-for-profit organization focused on insurance crime and fraud prevention. George Iny, president of the Automobile Protection Association, says Canada is still in an auto theft crisis because some vehicles are easy to steal, and historically, coordinated law enforcement efforts around auto theft were lacking — but have since improved. Drivers, in turn, are responding to the crisis by increasingly adding tracking devices onto their vehicles, says Matt Dillon, executive vice-president of operations at Magrath, Alta.-based Surex, an online insurance brokerage. Surex's own internal data show approximately six per cent of clients used a tracking device for commonly stolen cars last year. Now, it's seeing that figure increase to as high as 25 per cent. Iny recommends drivers specifically use a car tracking system offered by Montreal-based Tag. Tag's technicians install multiple, hard-to-find tracking systems throughout the car, which can be tracked anywhere in North America. The company will also etch its logo on the front driver's side and passenger side windows to further prevent theft. Iny also recommends an etching system by Longueuille, Que.–headquartered Sherlock Antitheft Marking. Sherlock etches a unique code onto multiple vehicle components. That code, which is associated with the vehicle identification number, is then stored in a secure database available to law enforcement, insurance company investigators and border service agencies. 'If I'm going to steal the vehicle for export to a West African country, that's not going to bother the person buying it,' Iny said. 'But if I was stealing it for parts or stealing it to resell inside Ontario, cloned as a different vehicle, then all those numbers would have to be removed. I won't bother. It's very time-consuming and it will show that somebody sanded off the numbers.' For better value, Iny recommends drivers get etching done at an auto glass shop. 'It will be cheaper than what the dealer sells,' he said. 'We see the dealers mark up products with a retail price of $400 to $2,000 or $1,500.' Iny is less enthusiastic about steering wheel locks, such as the Club, as a theft deterrent, calling them a secondary line of defence. 'It's one step above junk,' he says, adding that they can give a false sense of security and are inconvenient to use. While a thief might not be able to cut the lock, they can cut the steering wheel, Iny says. Still, if a thief is targeting a specific make or model and sees three parked on the same street, they might skip the one with a steering wheel lock. For drivers whose vehicles are stolen just three or four weeks after purchase, it likely means they're being watched, Iny warns. 'It's an argument in favour of buying something that people don't want to steal as much, rather than buying the same thing next time,' he said. 'Emotionally, we want to replace what we lost, so that tends to be what we do, but it's not necessarily the most rational solution if you're being targeted.' While Hurtado had set up Toyota-specific tracking systems, the thieves quickly deactivated them. After his vehicle was recovered, he turned to the aftermarket and installed Tag's anti-theft system, with some assurance that it offers better protection. Sign in to access your portfolio


CTV News
12-06-2025
- CTV News
Vaughan homeowner fires gun to thwart auto theft, charged along with 4 suspects
Police say as many as six suspects are in custody following a number of break-and-enters in Vaughan on June 12, 2025. Police say a Vaughan homeowner who fired a gun to stop an auto theft that was taking place Thursday morning has been charged along with four suspects. York Regional Police previously told CP24 that a group of suspects was allegedly trying to break into homes and steal vehicles northwest of Major MacKenzie Drive and Highway 400 at approximately 4 a.m. before they were 'interrupted' by a homeowner. In an update, police said the homeowner discharged a firearm in the course of an attempted vehicle theft. No injuries were reported. 'He has been charged, as well as the four suspects we arrested – three adults and one youth,' a police spokesperson said. Nothing was stolen over the course of the alleged break-and-enter or auto theft attempts. Police have not identified the homeowner or the suspects and it's not clear which charges either party is facing. Police said there is no threat to public safety.