A man says he is still in shock after his SUV was stolen from his Scarborough driveway in one of the three carjackings in Toronto that occurred in the span of two hours Wednesday.
“I thought I was dreaming,” the man, who asked not to be identified, told CTV News Toronto, recounting what happened to him.
He said he just got back from Costco and was about to go inside his home in the area of Sheppard Avenue East and Ecopark Gate when a man holding a pistol approached him.
“I was scared when I saw the pistol,” the man said, adding that there was a second man waiting inside a white Hyundai.
“He asked me to leave the key in, leave the car.”
The man said he was also asked to give his wallet and cell phone. He recalled thinking that “This is not real.”
“I was in shock,” the man said.
He added that he’s been living in the neighbourhood for more than two years, and he has not seen an incident like this.
The man said he regarded the area as a safe neighbourhood.
“I have been hearing a lot of things going on, especially carjacking, but I was not expecting that it will happen to me,” the man said.
When asked what he wanted other drivers to know, the man said they should be observant and vigilant of their surroundings.
“I used to be very careful. But for whatever reason today, I was not giving that much attention,” the man said.
Police said the suspects fled the area with the man’s black Toyota Rav4. They are looking into whether the same suspects were involved in another carjacking 18 kilometres away an hour earlier.
It happened in the area of Alfred Avenue and Longmore Street, north of Sheppard Avenue East, just before 4:30 p.m.
Police said suspects reportedly pulled up in two cars, and one of them brandished a handgun. They stole a white Lexus IS 250 AMDT 138 and fled the scene.
No injuries were reported.
Later in the evening, police were called to a third carjacking in the area of Sheppard Avenue East and Massie Street, more than five kilometres west of the second incident.
Police said two suspects drove up to a man, and one of them produced a handgun.
They then stole his car and fled the scene.
No suspect descriptions have been released in the three incidents, the latest in a string of carjackings in the city. As of Tuesday afternoon, Toronto police said its hold-up unit had responded to 60 armed carjackings, surpassing the 59 incidents they investigated in 2021.
On Monday evening, Toronto Maple Leafs star Mitch Marner became a victim of a carjacking in Etobicoke, with suspects stealing his Range Rover.
He released a statement on Twitter, calling the incident scary.
“To all the fans, my friends and teammates, and the entire Maple Leafs organization – thank you for all your positive messages over the last few days,” Marner tweeted.
- with files from Beth Macdonell
