Toronto, May 9, 2024 – “There was a pile of glass in the lane, and my car was gone,” said Toronto resident Jonathan Orlando. He reported the incident to the police, and after waiting for five hours, their only advice was to try to track down the missing car.
“One suggestion was to download Sirius Radio to locate the car. I did just that,” Orlando told City News. On April 21 this year, he woke up at his parents’ house in East York to find his car stolen.
Orlando then realized he could use the Sirius XM connected vehicle service in his stolen Acura to track it down. He eventually located the car at a parking lot in Etobicoke Valley and immediately informed the police of the latest development. He asked a friend living nearby to watch over the car while he headed to the parking lot.
However, the criminals had disabled the remote key and locked the steering wheel with a stick lock. Despite waiting from 2 p.m. until 10 p.m., the police did not show up, so Orlando had to call the Canadian Automobile Association (CAA) to send a tow truck.
The first driver sent by CAA was unable to assist with the disabled key and locked steering wheel, so another flatbed truck was requested from the company. Orlando contacted the police again to inform them that his car was being towed to a dealership, providing them with the address and stating that the vehicle would arrive in approximately 15 minutes. However, it wasn’t until the following day that the police dispatched officers to follow up. According to Orlando, “The dealership informed me that the officers didn’t even look at the car, they just confirmed the car was at the dealership.”
A spokesperson for the Toronto Police Service (TPS) responded, stating that on the day in question, officers at the 22 Division were responding to numerous distress calls, including 14 priority level 1 calls and 31 priority level 2 calls relating to assaults, stabbings, individuals in crisis, and multiple break-ins.
The spokesperson emphasized that TPS does not take vehicle theft lightly and aims to dispatch officers promptly to recover stolen vehicles, but public safety concerns will always take priority.
The Toronto Police mentioned that since 2018, they have recovered 46% of stolen vehicles, totaling over 20,000 cars. They have also arrested 1,300 criminals and filed over 5,000 related charges.