A 29-year-old man has been arrested in connection to the theft of catalytic convertors from an Etobicoke food charity.
Toronto police allege a suspect or suspects drove into an adjacent parking lot, cut the fence and entered the Second Harvest facility on foot around 12:15 a.m. Oct. 11.
Two suspects seen on surveillance footage then allegedly removed several catalytic convertors from seven different trucks in the parking lot before fleeing in the same vehicle they arrived in.
On Wednesday, Corey Peter Lane, 29, was arrested after a search warrant at a residence in Oakvile.
Investigators also allege he is connected to more catalytic converter thefts targeting businesses in the area, one on Sept. 13 in the North Queen Street and Kipling Avenue area and on Oct. 11 in the area of The East Mall and North Queen Street.
In both incidents, several vehicles were damaged during the process of removing catalytic converters.
Lane is facing three counts of committing break and enter, and three counts each of failing to comply with a release order and failing to comply with a probation order.
He was on probation and out on bail at the time of this latest offence.
Investigators are searching for at least one other suspect in connection to the incidents but have not released any further information
When asked if they believed Second Harvest was specifically targeted or a crime of opportunity, Acting Superintendent Jeff Bangild said he believed it was the latter. “Given the fact that we have multiple locations within the south Etobicoke community that were targeted, I believe that it was just ease of access.”
The organization says the theft left half of their delivery fleet inoperable during Thanksgiving and could cost them tens of thousands of dollars in repairs.
“It disrupted a business that’s sole purpose of helping our own community … which I think is why it’s such an important factor to bring in now is that we made an arrest so quickly on it. We can restore some faith back to the Second Harvest and the businesses within the area,” said Banglid.
Banglid added he had spoken with Second Harvet staff that morning who were pleased an arrest had been made. “They’re looking forward to the further investigation and hopefully recovering the items that were stolen.”
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