Woman tracks down car stolen from a GO station in Mississauga, Ontario
Published February 6, 2024 at 2:29 pm
A Toronto woman says she tracked down her car after it was stolen from a GO Train station in Mississauga.
The woman, who asked to remain anonymous, tells insauga.com that her Lexus was stolen from the Dixie GO Station parking lot on Sunday, Feb. 4.
She had parked the car at the station and then left with friends for a couple of hours. When they returned around 6 p.m., the car was gone.
But the 2022 Lexus comes with a tracker and the woman saw her vehicle was Dundix Road, just northwest of Dundas and Dixie roads.
She called the non-emergency police number for Peel Regional Police but was placed on hold. Her sister, who was also there, called 911 and was also placed on hold.
She and her friends decided to go find the car and learned through the tracker it had moved to Willowbank Trail, north of Rathburn Road East, off Tomken Road.
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“I don’t know why I went to go get the car anyway…a car has no value to me. I feel stupid for doing it. But I think I just panicked,” she says.
They found the car parked on the road with a window smashed and no one inside. There was a tow truck parked behind it and the woman knocked on the truck window. She thought the driver might have seen the person who stole her car.
She could see someone was inside the truck but the person didn’t respond, which made her suspicious. She got scared and drove away in her now damaged car.
The woman tracked her car from the Dixie GO Station to Willowbank Trail.
She finally got through to police after being on hold for about 20 minutes. She says the operator told her she couldn’t file a stolen vehicle report because she now had the car back.
But the police did take a report. However, the woman says they didn’t ask her anything about the tow truck driver who she suspected may have been involved in the theft.
“They didn’t even ask any further questions about it. So, I was just very frustrated,” she says. “This is exactly the reason why they keep doing this because there’s no consequences for them.”
A Peel Regional Police spokesperson tells insauga.com that they do have a report and are investigating the incident.
Police advise against attempting to take back a stolen vehicle. The spokesperson says people should let officers recover a stolen car for many reasons including safety, gathering suspect information and continuity of evidence.
The woman says her dealership towed the care and she later learned the damage would cost about $20,000 to repair. She believes her insurance will cover it.
She believes the culprit ripped out wires to start the car as a panel was removed and wires pulled out. A window was broken.
Auto theft continues to be a major and growing issue in the GTA. There was a recent auto theft summit and another one planned in Ottawa this week. The federal government just announced more funds to tackle the issue.
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