A Quebec woman stated she was very shocked to seek out her stolen Audi had been utilized in what’s being described as an “absolutely insane” Ontario mall theft.
Taylor-Anna Kobinger, a resident of Laval, Que., listed her 2011 Black Audi A4 on Fb Market in January as a method to lift the funds wanted for a down fee on a house.
On Jan. 29, Kobinger stated a person responded to her advert and got here to her house as a way to check drive the car. She stated he took the automotive out twice – on the primary drive, she stated every part went accordingly, however when he requested to check drive it a second time, she stated the person started to “drive dangerously.”
“He was really driving very dangerously and I didn’t feel secure, so I [asked] to change places,” Kobinger stated.
However, when she stepped out of the passenger seat, she stated the person hit the gasoline and drove away.
“I tried to run after it. I fell. I slipped because I had rain boots,” she stated. “And from that moment, I haven’t seen my car.”
Nonetheless, on Wednesday morning, Kobinger stated York Regional Police (YRP) instructed her that her automotive had been concerned in a theft – greater than 550 km from her house in Laval.
In line with York Regional Police (YRP), a automotive with the identical license plate as Kobinger’s had been pushed by way of the glass doorways of an Ontario mall early Wednesday earlier than allegedly breaking into an electronics retailer.
YRP was not capable of affirm Kobinger because the proprietor of the automotive, however Kobinger supplied documentation to Ontario Chronicle Toronto displaying her car matched the outline and plate quantity supplied by police in an earlier press launch.
Surveillance footage from inside Vaughan Mills, simply north of Toronto, reveals a 2011 Black Audi A4, with Quebec licence plate, driving into one of many mall’s closed entrances at a excessive charge of velocity.
The car is then seen driving erratically by way of plenty of hallways within the procuring centre earlier than smashing by way of a unique exit and fleeing the scene.
The video doesn’t present, nonetheless, when the suspects allegedly broke into the shop.
“It is an audacious crime,” Sgt. Clint Whitney instructed reporters exterior the mall on Wednesday. “It is unacceptable. People work in this mall, there is going to be cleaners, there is going to be security personnel. So we are just fortunate that nobody was hurt and it is property damage only.”
The incident occurred at round 1:10 a.m. on the procuring centre close to Freeway 400 and Rutherford Street. Police arrived shortly after 1:30 a.m.
He stated that the car, which had been reported stolen, was final seen heading in direction of Jane Road.
“It did look like they were going shopping in that vehicle. It is very, very audacious,” he instructed reporters. “I don’t know what was going through their minds.”
A car is seen driving by way of a Vaughan Mills mall as a part of a smash-and-grab model theft. (York Regional Police)
Whitney stated police are in search of two suspects in reference to the incident however are unable to offer an outline, as each have been disguised by hoods on the time.
He stated the suspects made off with a “quantity of electronic devices” and will face intensive charges in reference to the obvious joyride.
At about 11 a.m. on Wednesday, Kobinger stated YRP known as her and instructed her of her automotive’s involvement within the incident.
“First, I cried, I freaked out because I don’t have that kind of money to fix it,” Kobinger stated when requested how she took the information.
“Never in my life did I expect to see my car in a mall – literally never – I was very surprised to have it all the way [in Vaughan].”
Whereas Kobinger stated she’s glad her automotive has been discovered, she additionally stated she’s struck with fear over the prices of getting to journey to retrieve it and the following repairs.
Vaughan Mayor Stephen Del Duca known as the incident “absolutely insane” when talking to CP24 Wednesday.
“Earlier this morning when I heard the story I couldn’t believe it,” Vaughan Mayor Steven Del Duca instructed CP24 on Wednesday.
“I shop at Vaughan Mills, so many in our community do. It is just outrageous. I have lived here for 35 years. Vaughan is a very safe community but to see the way that some people, the criminal element, are going about doing what they are doing, it is outrageous and we need every hand on deck to try to fix it.”
