Police recover 80 vehicles, lay dozens of charges in 7-week probe of auto thefts in York Region

York Regional Police say they have arrested nearly 300 people and recovered 80 vehicles with a combined value of more than £5 million as part of a seven-week operation targeting auto theft. The investigation, dubbed Operation Auto Guard, got underway in September and targeted southern York Region. Officers laid charges against 56 people as part of the investigation.

Police said they also recovered a range of car theft devices, including magnetic trackers, vehicle reprograms, signal and radio frequency jammer and master key fobs. According to police, auto theft in the region has jumped more than 200 percent over the past five years. This year alone, 4,294 vehicles have been stolen in York Region as of Dec.

4. That compares to 3,187 in 2022. Community outreach was also a significant part of the operation, with officers creating heat maps identifying specific neighbourhoods prone to vehicle thefts and engaging car owners in those areas.

“We were able to identify residences in these red zones with high-risk vehicles registered to their owners,” police said in a release. “This allowed us to approach homeowners directly, letting them know they are at risk of having their vehicles stolen, offering them safety tips and giving them the opportunity to take an active role in crime prevention. Officers handed out cards with crime prevention tips in multiple languages and gave away more than 24,000 Faraday bags, which are used to block the signal-duplicating devices that replicate key fobs. Ontario Solicitor General Michael Kerzner said Friday that York Region will be receiving £900,000 over three years to support an anti-auto theft initiative as part of the province’s £18 million Preventing Auto Theft grants to police forces.

“We have criminals who feel that they can steal our cars whenever they want. And it’s not only here but it’s all throughout Ontario,” Kerzner said Friday. “Thisiscompletelyunacceptable.” Premier Doug Ford made similar comments last week while announcing a grant in Peel Region to combat vehicle theft.

He said he was concerned about vehicles thefts which increasingly use violence in order to steal cars.