Foot chase leads to 4 arrests; Mississauga and Brampton men among those charged

Four men face charges and a fifth is being hunted by police after multiple people were spotted stealing power tools from a Markham business on Sunday night.

York Regional Police said they arrested suspects from Mississauga, Brampton and Kitchener, and a fourth man in custody is of no fixed address, in the wake of the theft that unfolded at around 7:45 p.m. in the area of Fairburn Drive and Highway 7.

Police said reports indicated that multiple suspects were seen loading power tools into shopping carts and then leaving the store without paying for the goods.

The men were recognized by loss prevention workers at the business from previous theft incidents, police said in a news release on Monday.

The store workers followed the suspects as they left the business and began loading the power tools into a vehicle. As the men then tried to leave the area in the vehicle, police arrived on scene and attempted to block the car.

“The suspect vehicle made contact with a police vehicle, and five suspects fled on foot,” police said.

Following a short foot pursuit, four men were taken into custody, police said.

A fifth man remains on the run.

All stolen property was recovered at the scene, according to police.

The four men facing charges. (Photos: York Regional Police)

Vishavjeet Singh, 22, of Mississauga, Manpreet Singh, 30, of Brampton, Sukhinder Rakhra, 43, of Kitchener, and Mohit Sharma, 36, of no fixed address, are each charged with theft over $5,000, possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000 and possession of break-in instruments, in addition to other alleged offences.

At the time of their arrests, all four men were on separate release orders for unrelated offences, police said.

The investigation continues.

Anyone with information is asked to call police at 1-866-876-5423, ext. 7545, or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477.