Toronto police are trying to identify a suspect who allegedly threatened a security guard at a rental car company before stealing a vehicle from the lot in Etobicoke.

Police say the incident occurred at around 8:30 a.m. on Saturday at a company near Attwell Drive and Belfield Road.

According to investigators, a security guard was operating the front gate of a rental car business when a man attempted to leave the property with a stolen rental vehicle.

The man, police allege, demanded that the security guard open the gate for him and then threatened to shoot her if she did not comply.

When the security guard attempted to call for help on her cell phone, police say, the man got out of the vehicle and took her phone by force.

Police say the man later returned the phone to the security guard and fled the area in the stolen vehicle.

The car was located a short time later.

Police have now released images of the suspect and are asking the public for assistance identifying him.

He has been described by investigators as between the ages of 20 and 30 with a medium build, short hair, and a goatee. He was last seen wearing a green, long-sleeved shirt with a multi-coloured OVO owl logo on the front, blue jeans, and black and white running shoes.

Anyone with information about the suspect is asked to call police or Crime Stoppers anonymously.