Toronto Star Referrer

Leafs’ Marner is carjacked at gunpoint

High-profile robbery the latest in recent spate of armed thefts

KEVIN MCGRAN, JENNIFER PAGLIARO AND WENDY GILLIS STAFF REPORTERS

Faced with a potentially violent carjacking, Mitch Marner did exactly what police are urging all vehicle owners to do — hand over the keys.

A gunpoint robbery of the Toronto Maple Leafs winger’s black Range Rover near an Etobicoke movie theatre Monday night left Marner “rattled,” his agent told the Star. It is just the latest — and most high-profile — case amid a rising number of similar incidents that have GTA police

redoubling their efforts and warning residents about the dangers.

“The evidence suggests that this was a crime of opportunity,” said Insp. Richard Harris, who heads the Toronto police holdup squad, at a Tuesday press conference outside police headquarters.

He noted they are seeing more and more carjackings of high-end vehicles, using different techniques.

The holdup squad — which isn’t responsible for all carjackings but probes cases involving weapons — has investigated 60 incidents so far this year, Harris said, compared to 59 in all of 2021. They have made 20 arrests so far connected to several incidents, he said.

Harris would not confirm that Monday night’s victim was Marner — police sources confirmed his involvement to the Star, and the Leafs’ press team tweeted he was the victim Tuesday — but said a man and woman in their 20s were robbed at gunpoint.

Police said the carjacking took place around 7:45 p.m. at Islington Avenue and the Queensway, near the Cineplex Cinemas. Three suspects, armed with two handguns and a knife, then fled in the Range Rover. Both Marner and the woman were unharmed. There have been no arrests as the investigation continues.

“Obviously the first reaction was general shock and then concern for Mitch,” said Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe at a media availability. “He was in here today and had a meeting with him, which was a little bit different tone than some of the others for obvious reasons. But he seems to be doing well, all things considered.”

The police inspector said the victims “did comply” — and he encouraged others to follow suit.

“If someone attempts to steal your car, please give it up,” Harris said. “Do not resist. Do not argue or fight. Your safety is worth more than your car.”

Incidents of carjacking — which involves a victim being present — and auto theft of vehicles unattended in parking lots, driveways and elsewhere have been steadily climbing in the GTA.

According to Toronto police crime data, auto thefts across the city have increased from 3,634 reported thefts in 2014 to 6,508 in 2021.

Speaking to the police board in January, Toronto Police Chief James Ramer said the city had seen a “troubling” increase in vehicle thefts, up 81 per cent since 2017. The makes most commonly stolen in 2021 were Honda, Toyota, Lexus, Ford and Land Rover, Ramer said.

There was also a 39 per cent increase in carjackings in 2020 over 2019, Ramer said, announcing the restart of a $2.1-million unit to targeting organized crime groups profiting from auto thefts.

Though it’s too early to tell what level of organization was involved in Monday night’s carjacking, Harris said past investigations have revealed the “level of sophistication” required to steal a car in Toronto and have it resold, in some cases, overseas.

In the last eight years, the northern mostly suburban band of the city — from Etobicoke to Scarborough — have seen the most thefts, according to the police data. But the southern Etobicoke police division where Marner’s car was stolen — spanning the western border of the city to the Humber River and Eglinton Avenue to the waterfront — ranks among the top five hottest locations for auto theft, according to the police data.

And parking lots are the most common scene of these crimes — more than 12,000 such thefts were reported in some kind of lot, commercial or not, between 2014 and 2022. (It’s not immediately clear how many of those incidents may have seen the owner or occupants of the car present at the time of the theft.)

The Etobicoke movie theatre where Marner’s car was stolen is just off the Islington Avenue exit to the Gardiner Expressway, which sandwiches it between a large parking lot. To the south is a strip of eateries on the Queensway and a neighbourhood of single-family homes.

Harris said Tuesday that uniformed and plain clothes officers continue to patrol “hot spot” areas citywide.

While auto thefts have steadily increased since 2014, all other major crimes, a category that includes robbery and assault but not homicide, are slightly less frequent today than they were eight years ago — a one per cent decrease occurred between 2014 and 2022.

On Monday, York Region Police issued a warning about the “significant” increases in car theft and carjacking, complete with dramatic video showing a series of daylight robberies, including in a busy parking lot.

Earlier this month, Toronto police announced arrests in a carjacking ring that allegedly used “extreme violence.” According to police, high-end vehicles were reported stolen in Toronto, York Region and Peel Region, with suspects allegedly scouting vehicles on major highways and then tailing them — waiting for an opportunity to approach at an intersection or the victim’s home.

In a tweet Tuesday, the Leafs confirmed Marner, 25, was a victim of the Etobicoke carjacking. “He was unharmed in the incident and the Club & Mitch are thankful for Toronto Police Services’ support. Anyone with information is asked to reach out to Toronto Police Services,” the Leafs public relations account said, adding that police have asked Marner and the team not to comment because the investigation is ongoing.

Marner attended the Leafs’ final media availability at locker cleanout on Tuesday to wrap up the 2021-22 season, joining coaching staff and his teammates at the Ford Performance Centre, but did not speak to the press.

“I know that he’s doing really well,” said captain John Tavares. “He’s in really good spirits considering the situation when you think about it. So I’m just really happy he’s OK.”

Asked about taking extra precautions, left winger William Nylander said it’s difficult to prepare for a situation like that. “Going to the movies like that, that’d be the last place I think somebody would come. Probably you should be a little bit more alert, but I don’t think that there’s much you can do if somebody comes at you like that.”

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2022-05-18T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-05-18T07:00:00.0000000Z

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