Arrests in Carjackings

Toronto Police has made two arrests in connection with a spate of carjackings in the city’s east end and Durham region.

So far, more than 100 charges have been laid against a 19-year-old man and a 17-year-old boy as part of Project ZigZag.

Between May 15 and 26, police responded to 10 carjacking robberies and a related retail robbery, most of them in Scarborough.

“During these incidents, the suspect was armed with a handgun and would approach the victims on their driveways demanding their keys,” Inspector Richard Harris said at a press conference outside police headquarters on June 8. “At least one other suspect would wait nearby in a getaway car.”

There were no injuries in the incidents.

“While this does not diminish the impact of this type of crime on victims, one could only hazard a guess as to the psychological effects these robberies have on people,” said Harris. “The community is fed up and we are getting tremendous assistance from community members to help solve these crimes in a timely fashion.”

In five of incidents, he said the suspects were successful in taking the victims’ vehicles. They were all recovered.

On June 2, the Hold Up investigators – with assistance from other units – identified two persons of interest who were observed in a stolen vehicle. It was carjacked on May 18. While driving in Brampton, a high-risk takedown was initiated and two males were taken into custody without incident.

It is alleged that two handguns, a knife, a quantity of stolen property, a robbery kit and clothing used during the robberies were located and seized as evidence.

One of the firearms was a replica while the other was fully loaded and functional.

Tyliq Jones, of Toronto, was arrested and faces 44 charges. The 17-year-old faces 56 charges.

While suspects seem to target mainly high-end vehicles in most of the recent carjackings, this was not the case in this investigation.

“Many of the vehicles were not high-end and evidence to date suggests these vehicles were intended to be used for committing other crimes,” said Harris. “At this time, this case does not appear to have ties to organized crime.”

These types of investigations, noted the officer, are often complex and can take time while investigators comb through the evidence and identify links to other incidents in Toronto and the wider Greater Toronto Area.

“Today’s results highlight the dedication of our members and the Service’s commitment to tackling carjackings,” said Harris. “These arrests speak to the importance of working in partnership with other police services and I want to thank our partners and the Durham Regional Police Service in particular.

“This successful conclusion would also not be possible without other units here at TPS, including our newly implemented Organized Crime Investigative Support Team who are actively embedding in ongoing investigations. We have a persistent uniformed and plainclothes presence in hotspot areas citywide and continue to work with our local divisions to actively make arrests such as these today. I want to assure the public our work will not stop.”

As of June 6, there has been 103 carjacking occurrences in the city compared to 25 for the same period a year ago. There has been 38 arrests connected to multiple incidents.