- 15 hours ago
In the early morning hours a dashcam captures the theft of a vehicle out of a quiet driveway.
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00:02This program is rated 14 plus and contains scenes of violence and mature subject matter.
00:08Viewer discretion is advised.
00:12Our target's out from his apartment. He's headed to a side street on the north side here.
00:17This is them coming. They got a left turn on.
00:1948, he strokes, mark land. Hands start clapping.
00:30Get in your hands! Get in your hands! Get in your hands!
00:35Typically, it's about 15 to 22 is that median age that we see involved in auto theft.
00:41Crime is a high-risk lifestyle and when people are involved in that, especially young people, it's easy for things
00:47to go too far.
00:48Only about an hour and a half after this vehicle is stolen, this turns into a homicide investigation.
00:57Welcome to a special edition of Crime Beat. I'm Anthony Robart.
01:01Auto theft in Canada is now costing the insurance industry a billion dollars in claims each year.
01:08This highly profitable crime is also becoming increasingly violent.
01:13In August of 2024, just north of Toronto, for example, a 16-year-old was dropped off at a hospital
01:19with a stab wound.
01:20He did not survive. Police say the victim was part of a violent car theft ring.
01:26Tonight, we investigate auto theft and the dark reality of those affected by this crisis.
01:34Here now is A Stolen Life.
01:41It's 5 a.m. on a quiet street just north of Toronto.
01:47Movement in a driveway triggers the recording of a dash camera.
01:52Two men approach a Toyota Tundra.
01:55They're seeing a male party walking up to the vehicle.
01:58It looks like he's starting to case the vehicle out.
02:00Looking up on top of the roof, another male enters from the right of the screen
02:04and it appears that the one male, the first male, is talking on his cell phone.
02:08And you'll see that this other male has now jumped up on top of the vehicle.
02:11He smashes the sunroof and then cuts the fabric where the sunroof cover is
02:16and then ultimately gains entry to the vehicle.
02:18Then they do whatever they do, programming, getting the vehicle to start.
02:22You'll see the lights turn on, brake lights come on, reverse lights will come on
02:28and ultimately the vehicle backs away from the driveway and then is driven from the area.
02:34Nobody wakes up and happens within minutes of them arriving at the house.
02:40It's not uncommon.
02:42Auto theft at this time is at a high in Canada,
02:45with Toyota Tundras being one of the most targeted vehicles in Ontario.
02:52So what you see is the vehicle entering from the left of the screen to the right.
02:57It travels to a court where another vehicle, believed to be our Hyundai Elantra,
03:02arrives in tandem with our stolen Toyota Tundra.
03:05And you can see where the Tundra's headlights are.
03:09You can see there's motion.
03:10It looks like figures walking back and forth with the stolen Tundra.
03:13And another vehicle, believed to be an SUV, arrives unknown who's actually driving that vehicle.
03:21It only stays in the area for a short period of time.
03:23It looks like two figures are walking again from the Toyota, and they walk over to the Hyundai.
03:32We could see vehicles being moved and multiple different individuals being involved in the movement of those vehicles.
03:39So that was consistent throughout that video canvas where certainly more than one person was involved.
03:45This to me, this looks to be like everybody that's involved in the auto theft group.
03:49It would depict that there's multiple people involved with the theft of these vehicles.
03:52My suggestion is that they would be passing this off to the next person in line involved in the auto
03:58theft.
04:00So what you'll see here is whoever's on in the Toyota, the Toyota Tundra speeds from the court.
04:06What happens next is the mystery.
04:10This turns into a homicide investigation only about an hour and a half after this vehicle is stolen.
04:20Soon after the Toyota Tundra was stolen, this teenager would be pronounced dead in hospital.
04:27Because he is a minor, his identity is protected.
04:32So the call that I received on the morning of August the 8th, 2024, was for an injured person call
04:38from a local hospital
04:40where a young person had been brought to the hospital by two people, and one of the people had remained
04:45at the hospital.
04:46Unfortunately, the injured person had passed away after being brought to the hospital.
04:51So as a result, the homicide unit was called and an investigation was launched.
04:57I saw Detective Andrew Cook as the lead investigator.
05:03We were notified shortly after 7 a.m. that this incident was on the go and that it's the death
05:08of a person with a stab wound.
05:12Video from a camera on a bus captures a grey Hyundai running a red light outside the hospital and dropping
05:20the victim off.
05:22We had very limited information on who the victim was.
05:25There was no actual identification on his person that had belonged to him.
05:30So we just didn't know who he was at that time, how old he was.
05:33We didn't know any of that information.
05:35I would say identifying who the victim is, is critical or primary at that point, but also keeping an open
05:42mind, not knowing really anything at that point.
05:46You have to be alive to any possibilities.
05:49It was discovered that he actually had some property that belonged to another person.
05:53We looked in and we found that there was a theft of a vehicle report.
05:56Around 6 a.m., a homeowner had come outside and realized that his vehicle had been stolen.
06:01And that homeowner was subsequently the identification that our victim had on him.
06:08I think my mind went to that he could have been involved in the theft of that vehicle or involved
06:14in a group of people that may have been stealing vehicles in the area.
06:19A call comes in that the Toyota Tundra has been found.
06:24The owner of the vehicle had a tracking system in the vehicle, which was activated upon him discovering that it
06:30was stolen.
06:32So what you can see in this video is almost about an hour after the actual theft took place, this
06:38vehicle, the stolen Toyota Tundra arrives at a parking garage on Weston Road in Toronto.
06:43You can see the sunroof has been shattered out of the top of the vehicle, and he attempts to park
06:48in one of the spots.
06:54Back at the hospital, detectives begin getting tips on who their victim is.
07:00The victim was a youth, so we can't get into his name for legal reasons, but he's a young person,
07:0516 years of age, from the province of Quebec.
07:09It's alarming to us, as the 16-year-old victim of a homicide, obviously we're wondering how he came to
07:14being in the area, who he was involved with, who's involved in the auto theft portion of this.
07:20We're looking into all those different avenues of how this victim, this 16-year-old boy, ends up becoming a
07:24victim of a homicide.
07:26As a police officer, you know that young people are involved in crime and often used by criminals to carry
07:34out work on their behalf.
07:35But when you speak to the personal element, obviously a 16-year-old, you feel bad for the young person
07:40whose life was taken away early, for the family of that young person, and so you want to do everything
07:45you can to understand what happened.
07:48The truck is brought in for forensics, and word comes of a new lead.
07:54So throughout the investigation we were learning about the names of a lot of different people that were involved.
07:59Kat was a name that came up through witness interviews and evidence that we recovered during the course of the
08:04investigation.
08:06We looked through phone records, any devices seized from accused parties, any devices from the victim, and then we start
08:12looking into phone numbers associated.
08:15And we were able to identify through records the name Catherine Bergeron, pins her own.
08:21So through investigation and MTO information, we were able to discover that she actually had an address listed to a
08:28condo building in the Mississauga area.
08:31They head to her condo, but can't locate her.
08:35We were able to seize video from that location, identify the cars that she was driving on August 8th.
08:41You can see the white Mercedes entering into the frame.
08:44This is only hours after the homicide has taken place.
08:47The vehicle parks, and what you'll see later in the video, is Catherine Bergeron and three other males exit the
08:56white Mercedes
08:57and attend inside the actual condo building.
09:06And this is another camera angle from the parking garage to the parking garage elevators.
09:12You can see Catherine Bergeron in the screen there.
09:15The male standing right beside her is believed to be her boyfriend at that time.
09:20You can see them enter the elevator.
09:22Catherine Bergeron stands, looks up at the camera, and they ultimately select the, I believe it's the 53rd floor of
09:29the condo building.
09:31And her boyfriend kisses her forehead.
09:35I had received information that she was a planner.
09:38She was the one planning and kind of recruiting other males to actually execute the theft of the vehicles.
09:45That was kind of her role within that organization, is that she would plan, she would bring people to the
09:49GTA,
09:50and she would bring them there for the purpose of stealing cars.
09:55Less than an hour later, they are seen getting into the same elevator.
10:00So this is going down from the 53rd floor.
10:04You can see Catherine Bergeron, she's pushing a suitcase.
10:07Her boyfriend's got a number of items in his hands.
10:10The male in the blue has what appears to be a suitcase as well.
10:14And they're all carrying some sort of baggage, leaving the condo building.
10:21They exit the elevator with all the baggage.
10:26Obviously, she's trying to flee the area.
10:28That's kind of where my mind goes.
10:30And we were able to, like, solidify that with records and phone records that she did subsequently
10:35leave the GTA and return to Montreal.
10:41While their hunt is on for suspects, witnesses begin to talk.
10:47From what we get from witness information is that there was an altercation that took place
10:52between Catherine's boyfriend and the victim, which led to an altercation
10:56where Catherine retrieved a knife and stabbed the victim,
11:01causing his injury and ultimately causing his death.
11:05A transit bus captures a grey Hyundai blowing a red light
11:09to drop the victim in hospital.
11:11But he does not survive.
11:14My own personal thoughts, obviously, it's a tragedy.
11:16Yes, the victim was involved in other crimes,
11:19but it's certainly still a tragic event when a 16-year-old boy turns up at hospital
11:23and has passed away from an injury.
11:27Investigators formed the grounds to believe that Catherine Bergeron-Pinzaroni
11:31stabbed the victim on the early morning hours of Thursday, August 8, 2024.
11:36And as a result, a warrant was sought for a second-degree murder.
11:41The white Mercedes was recovered in Montreal, but Catherine has not been found.
11:49Shortly after the homicide investigation began, there were no more leads to where she was.
11:55So a short time after the offence is when the leads of her workouts ended.
12:00The trail has run cold out to the Montreal area.
12:03I firmly believe that she is in the Montreal area.
12:06What her means of income are or how she's surviving, I don't know.
12:10She has now been named one of Canada's most wanted.
12:29Welcome back.
12:30Police are now on the hunt for the suspect in the murder of a youth believed to be a part
12:35of an auto theft ring.
12:36Authorities say organized crime groups are fueling a surge in auto thefts nationwide.
12:42Well, now a specialized unit is working in real time to intercept thieves in the act.
12:49We now return to A Stolen Life.
12:57As night falls and a community tucks in, a high stakes cat and mouse game begins.
13:05Ontario as a whole, especially within the GTA, it's a relatively affluent community.
13:09People generally like to drive nice cars.
13:12Some people park them indoors, some people park them in their garages,
13:15or some people park them outside on the street of their driveway.
13:18And because there's so many and there's such access to them, they get stolen.
13:22You know, in the past years, people were always curious, you know,
13:26why are these theft groups coming from Quebec, coming from Toronto, targeting these areas?
13:30Because it's the prevalence of the high value vehicles.
13:33And these are the vehicles that are sought after overseas for export.
13:37It's also kind of the perfect storm in Ontario because we are so close to the port of Montreal.
13:43We're so close to all the rail, you know, the two large rail terminals here in the GTA.
13:47It just really is the perfect place to steal and then traffic vehicles overseas.
13:53The York Regional Police Auto and Cargo Theft Unit are on the front lines,
13:59battling stolen vehicles in Canada's busiest region.
14:03Guys, the plan for tonight is going to be we are going to get out on surveillance on our crime
14:07vehicle.
14:07And once we get that crime vehicle secured and we're following it in a safe manner,
14:11we're going to let them go about their business.
14:13If they do commit a theft, we're going to let them complete that theft
14:16and then we'll try and track down the stolen vehicle.
14:20Tonight our team is out on a crime group that's involved in the overnight driveway thefts throughout the GTA.
14:26And we're going to be going to set up surveillance at this party's apartment in Toronto
14:30and we will be looking to do surveillance on him from that location.
14:35In hopes of catching him dirty or in the act getting ready to steal,
14:38and then at that point we're likely to interdict him and make an arrest.
14:42It's troubling for a lot of people.
14:44When someone has their vehicle stolen in that way, it can be traumatizing.
14:48It can be something that changes how they feel about their personal safety.
14:51So it is important.
14:56Oh yeah, they're screwed.
14:58The suspected crime group they're targeting is particularly brazen.
15:02During that evening we were conducting surveillance on the group to establish some criminality and build evidence.
15:09And they made an attempt on a Toyota Tundra.
15:11And during that attempt, the homeowner contacted the local police service as they saw them outside her window.
15:18And she was able to record a cell phone video.
15:20And in the video, you know, kind of our main suspect or the leader of the crime group is seen
15:25waving at her.
15:27Making a heart with his hands and just, you know, with no care or any kind of respect for her
15:32property or, you know, her safety essentially.
15:36Each role within auto theft groups comes with a different paycheck.
15:41The lowest level would be a scout, we would call them.
15:44They would go out and identify vehicles to be stolen.
15:48So these people get just paid like a nominal amount.
15:51So it could be $75 to $100 a vehicle to actually go out, scout the neighborhood, look for vehicles that
15:56fit and qualify for something that they're looking for.
15:59And with that, they would now share that to say a thief.
16:02So the thief is somebody that has the ability to physically break into the car.
16:07The thief, he gets paid a little bit more.
16:10The thief gets paid like usually a couple thousand dollars for the vehicle because he reprograms the keys, resets it.
16:15Over and above the thief then, you will have somebody that actually physically moves the car.
16:19The person that moves the vehicle within that hierarchy, they're going to get a little less money than the thief.
16:24They might get between $500 and $1,000 or maybe only a couple hundred depending on how far they're moving.
16:29And then as you start to work up into the higher organization hierarchy, that's either someone that's here or overseas
16:35that's manipulating that.
16:37Moving vehicles into cargo containers that end up at the Port of Montreal.
16:43We will often say as a group, you know, you can go out and you can do different crime.
16:47But if you steal two vehicles and traffic them, you know, for the thieves, they might make $10,000, $15
16:53,000 a night.
16:54For the traffickers that are sending those two Toyota Tundras overseas, they might make $100,000.
17:00So that definitely funds organized crime.
17:03You know, we've seen it fund, you know, domestic organized crime, international organized crime.
17:08You know, there have been links to, you know, different terrorist groups that are benefiting from the money that's being
17:13made from these stolen vehicles.
17:16Detective Scott Cresswell's team has been surveilling this suspected crime group for weeks.
17:22And what this group would do is they would be cruising around residential neighborhoods in the wee hours, searching for
17:28cars to steal.
17:29When they found something that was desirable to them, they would make an attempt to steal it and then move
17:34it from that location.
17:36Welcome northbound towards you, Jeff.
17:39He's wearing gray sweatpants.
17:41He's masked up.
17:42Our target's out from his apartment.
17:44He's headed to a side street on the north side here.
17:46He's hopping a fence.
17:47Wow, this guy's sneaky.
17:49Pops the fence, continues northbound, and bends it a little bit to the west.
17:54We're going to need some help.
17:56The act can happen in just seconds.
17:59So there's two kind of main areas.
18:02One is a pure reprogram.
18:04So they will go in through this port and they tell your car, I've lost my original key.
18:09Reprogram it to this key.
18:10So they reprogram the keys to make it a new key.
18:14They're in and out of cars within.
18:16They sometimes go in through the sunroof.
18:17They'll come in through the back window.
18:19They'll come in through a back passenger door window.
18:21They'll spin the tumbler on the lock.
18:23It could be a couple of minutes, up to 10 minutes.
18:25The next one was a relay theft.
18:27And the relay theft is capturing a signal from your house.
18:29And that is basically working in a two-person team.
18:32So the first person would be standing by the house, capturing the signal from your key fob.
18:38And your key fob emits a small signal all the time because it's looking for your car.
18:42And when it's looking for your car, it's submitting the signal.
18:44And the person standing at your door captures that signal and relays it to the person that's
18:49by the car that's carrying another pack.
18:51And then your car goes, oh, my key's outside.
18:54Within that proximity, the car opens, start the car, away we go.
18:57And the car's gone.
18:58And that can take 20 seconds.
19:00There's a CAN bus attack.
19:01And it's basically like a component that's in your car that's plugged into your one headlight
19:05that you can basically tell your car it needs to do an emergency start.
19:10It's similar to street gangs.
19:11And they're utilizing street gangs in some of the cases.
19:15And it's disenfranchised youth.
19:17Number one, they're looking for money.
19:18But they're also looking for sometimes like a feeling of belonging.
19:22Sadly, we've seen criminals involved in this to the age of 12.
19:25And sometimes even younger.
19:27But typically, it's about 15 to 22 is that median age that we see involved in auto theft.
19:33This is them here.
19:35That's our crime vehicle.
19:36We describe a crime vehicle as any vehicle, generally a stolen vehicle,
19:40that's used to, you know, commit other crimes.
19:42Generally, what these theft crews will do is they will steal another high-end vehicle,
19:46such as a Toyota Tundra or a Lexus RX 350.
19:49And then they will use that to further steal.
19:51It's really about, for them, what do they feel comfortable in.
19:54This is them coming.
19:55They got a left turn on for Main Street.
19:57That's our car right there.
19:58We know that there's three suspects in the vehicle now.
20:02And what our focus is, is to find a safe opportunity to interdict them
20:07and, you know, generate a safe outcome.
20:12They're in a powerful, fast stolen vehicle.
20:14So they're not afraid to just jump on the highway and put the pedal down
20:18and disregard public safety.
20:20They just, they're not afraid to drive.
20:2348, I'm working. I'm at Bloor now.
20:25I'm going to have a hard time catching them.
20:30Roger.
20:3148, I'm almost there.
20:32Our main intersection for our bad guys is Bloor and Dixie.
20:37He's just out there.
20:38He'll record his heart.
20:39As the sun comes up,
20:41surveillance, tactical, and canine teams close in.
20:46We're right there.
20:48And our guy's right beside him.
20:49Do you see the one in front of the CRM?
20:51Yeah, 48 has the eye.
20:53He holds the two, heading west on Bloor.
20:57Mark land in the future, man's up and dancing.
21:0048, he strokes mark land.
21:03Hands start clapping.
21:08Building a little bit of shade here as he moves from the two to the one,
21:13heading west on Bloor.
21:15What happened was we were able to get them to a very safe location
21:17where we knew they were parking this crime vehicle behind us.
21:20And then we were able to kind of like move in,
21:23in a very controlled way.
21:2448, I come around at Winding Trail and Dixie.
21:27I have him here.
21:29He's set up right now to TNT Dixie, heading westbound.
21:33Okay, Kaiser, I'll let you come and block first before I approach him.
21:39Go, go, go, go, go!
21:40Go, go, go, go, go!
21:43Get to your hands!
21:44Get to your hands!
21:45Get to your hands!
21:45Get to your hands!
21:48Wanting custody at the building, guys.
21:49Wanting custody at the building.
21:52I could tell from the radio transmissions that our team was in a good position
21:56and they were set up for what we had planned.
21:58And it followed that plan.
21:59We were able to safely box in their car.
22:01And then both suspects ended up exiting the vehicle on foot.
22:05There was a short foot pursuit and both were taken into custody.
22:07And then we were able to use the ERU, our canine, and our members
22:13to safely arrest everybody without injuries.
22:16They're in custody now and they're facing significant charges
22:19and we expect them to stay in jail for some time.
22:22Jaren Suvakumar and Ja'Kai Summers Green were charged
22:26with theft of a motor vehicle and other related charges
22:30and are before the courts.
22:46Welcome back.
22:47When stolen vehicles aren't recovered quickly,
22:50they can be loaded into shipping containers and sent to port within just hours.
22:55Well, through a coordinated effort called Project Vector,
22:58police and border officials are racing to stop those shipments,
23:03targeting suspect containers before they reach overseas crime networks.
23:09We now return to a stolen life.
23:15The port of Montreal.
23:18Eastern Canada's largest container port.
23:22Every day, ships bring cargo in and out.
23:27Close to 40 million tonnes a year.
23:34In a highly secure warehouse, a Canadian border services team
23:38is waiting to open a suspicious load before it's exported.
23:43Before you bring the seal, can I leave?
23:45The main way to export a vehicle from Canada is through the port.
23:48The busiest port in Canada is the port of Montreal.
23:51You know, we have seen containers leaving from Halifax,
23:54but really the predominant method of export is through the port.
23:56You know, the stolen vehicles will be containerized,
23:58sometimes in the GTA, sometimes in the Montreal area,
24:01and then they'll be placed on the ship and sent overseas.
24:06Canada is a source country for these vehicles.
24:08Somebody somewhere is paying for these vehicles,
24:10and they're paying a lot for them.
24:11They pay a certain amount of dollar value
24:13to have the vehicle stolen and shipped,
24:15and then when it gets to wherever the country is
24:17that they want to sell this vehicle,
24:19there's a lot of profit attached to it.
24:21Now, that profit, it's not just to fund one individual
24:25that's making wealth out of that.
24:26It's groups and networks that use this money
24:29to fund other organized crime.
24:33Each year, thousands of stolen vehicles leave undetected.
24:39The international ports that we employ are incredibly busy.
24:43They are made to facilitate the transfer of cargo
24:47in and out of the country.
24:48Really, the stolen vehicles,
24:49even though there's a large number of them,
24:51are a needle in a haystack.
24:53X-ray machines are used to target and identify
24:57what they call dirty containers.
25:00I mean, people wonder,
25:01why can't you just search every container?
25:02It's pure volume.
25:03There's thousands and thousands, tens of thousands
25:05of containers that are leaving the ports.
25:08We use intelligence-led policing to identify containers
25:11that are suspected of containing stolen vehicles.
25:14Then they are put aside.
25:15They're held.
25:15There's a hold on that container until CBSA,
25:18the Port of Montreal, and our group at Vector
25:22can open the container
25:24and then examine for stolen vehicles.
25:28Project Vector is the coordination of, you know,
25:30multiple agencies, including police,
25:33CBSA, the different rail systems.
25:36And it really has led to a huge number of vehicles
25:39being recovered at the port before they're exported.
25:43This container contained two vehicles of the same rent,
25:47so the vehicles were pulled out,
25:49and the research that they did confirmed
25:51that they were stolen vehicles.
25:55Their VIN, vehicle identification number,
25:58confirms they're from the greater Toronto area.
26:01So when they're being shipped overseas,
26:03these stolen vehicles have destinations in foreign countries,
26:06and it's really where the demand is.
26:07These illegally exported vehicles end up anywhere across the world.
26:11Often destinations are in the Mediterranean,
26:14they end up in the continent of Africa,
26:16they land in ports in Europe,
26:17and then they go everywhere from there.
26:20CBSA search for other contraband.
26:24Right now, the officer opened the container,
26:28performed the search of the vehicle,
26:29and he found some black bags.
26:31So what we're going to do is going to do
26:32the least intrusive exams first before opening,
26:35so we can see what is in the bags.
26:38So basically what we can see is clothing.
26:41Those are zippers, other cords,
26:43so they can not see any contraband,
26:46any other substance actually inside the bag here.
26:51From here, the vehicles will be sent to a centre
26:54for a thorough exam.
26:56These are all vehicles that were recovered
26:58at the Port of Montreal
27:00with the attempt to be exported out of the country.
27:03So all vehicles that were stolen throughout Canada,
27:06mostly Ontario and Quebec.
27:08SUVs, pickup trucks, and some more luxury sedans
27:11every year in around between 15 and 2,000 vehicles.
27:18I'm looking at the VIN plate or the VIN sticker
27:21on this vehicle and taking note of the number.
27:24So what I'm going to do, I'm going to take a tool
27:27to see if I can move this piece around.
27:29If the original VIN number is still under this one,
27:33because this seems to be a fake one.
27:36Re-VINning is where they try to disguise
27:39the true identity of the vehicle.
27:40There's public vehicle identification numbers
27:43on the vehicle.
27:44One is in your windshield.
27:46They try and replace it, mask it,
27:49whether it be a clone VIN,
27:50something to alter the identity of that vehicle.
27:53They put a fake VIN sticker on the plastic part.
27:58And this is one of the trends we do have right now.
28:01I'm taking note of the Federal Certification sticker,
28:05which on this one is a fake one.
28:09Extensive examination is done to make sure
28:12all major parts belong to the same vehicle.
28:15They have the skills, knowledge and ability
28:18to be able to identify the true identity of that vehicle.
28:21And that's an important piece,
28:23because the last thing we would want
28:25is a vehicle recovered to leave the country
28:27and then just return back into the system,
28:30sold at an auction, sold to an unsuspecting purchaser.
28:33So that examination is extremely important.
28:36They also know how the vehicle was likely stolen.
28:40This seems to be the point of entry of the vehicle.
28:44They broke the sunroof to get in the vehicle.
28:47Then they tear off part of the dashboard
28:50to have access to the electronic system
28:52to be able to start the vehicle.
28:55When experts examine a vehicle,
28:56they understand the methodology
28:58that criminals are using to steal the vehicle.
29:00And sometimes they can almost identify a pattern
29:02and recognize that, well, this method is used
29:05by certain groups, gangs, people.
29:07We can gather forensic evidence,
29:09which can be then used to lay charges and ensure convictions.
29:12That's why a good inspection of a stolen vehicle
29:15is always a great step in investigation.
29:18Each week, stolen vehicles are transferred back
29:21to the police of jurisdiction.
29:24Everybody focusing on the recovery
29:26of these stolen vehicles before they leave the country.
29:29And that's the focus of Project Vector,
29:30is stopping the vehicles before they get exported.
29:33And it's been very successful.
29:35In the Port of Montreal, there's almost 1.5 million
29:39of containers that are moving per year.
29:41But specifically for the Project Vector,
29:44in 2024, for example, we seized almost 1,300 stolen vehicles.
29:50In 2025, we were about almost 1,000 vehicles.
29:54It represents $75 million for stolen vehicles.
29:58The more vehicles we recover, the more containers we stop
30:02that are loaded with stolen vehicles leaving the country,
30:04we are hurting this crime group financially,
30:06because they've put out X amount of dollars
30:10to arrange for the traffic of these vehicles,
30:12and now there will be no payday on the other end.
30:14The Project Vector is built to send a message
30:17to make it clear that we will continue to work
30:21to keep the pressure on criminal groups,
30:24organized groups that are involved with stolen vehicles.
30:28I can say they've recovered well over 2,000 vehicles
30:32in probably less than an 18-month period.
30:35They've intercepted hundreds of containers,
30:38and then we've gathered intelligence
30:40that have spawned further criminal investigations
30:42and resulted in criminal charges in Ontario and Quebec.
30:58Welcome back.
30:59Despite authorities' best efforts in stopping the flow
31:02of stolen vehicles overseas,
31:04thousands still make it through undetected.
31:08When they do, the investigation doesn't stop.
31:11A new project called Take Back is working
31:14to bring stolen vehicles home.
31:18Here once again is A Stolen Life.
31:25At the port of Halifax, a team is waiting for a shipment
31:29that is returning from overseas.
31:32Project Take Back, it's basically vehicles
31:34that have left Canada and gone overseas to foreign nations,
31:39and now we're making the effort
31:41to return those vehicles back to Canada.
31:46Repatriation itself has occurred before,
31:48but never to the extent that we're doing it now.
31:52We are making a concerted effort by Canadian law enforcement,
31:56as well as with our insurance company partners,
31:58to bring these vehicles back from overseas.
32:01We're trying to prevent the feed of these vehicles
32:04from arriving to their foreign destinations
32:06because these vehicles are then resold overseas
32:10to nations abroad,
32:11and then that money is used to help fund organized crime.
32:16Project Take Back is a first in the fact
32:18that now we're not bringing back a vehicle at a time,
32:21we're bringing them back in batch vehicles,
32:23and they're coming back to Canada.
32:25So what used to take years is now happening in weeks.
32:28It looks like we got a Lexus in good condition,
32:31looks fairly new,
32:32and what appears to be a black toy on a Tungra
32:35in the front of the container.
32:37So when we first get the container here,
32:39we open the doors,
32:40we can visually see that there's vehicles in there
32:43that was suspected be stolen.
32:45We complete our custom search for restricted and prohibited items.
32:49Yeah, it's got better clamps.
32:51We obtain the VIN from the vehicle.
32:53We have databases that we can run that VIN in,
32:56and if it's confirmed as an active stolen vehicle,
33:00then we have an obligation to treat it as such.
33:03Therefore, we'll seize it under the criminal code
33:05and turn it over to the police of jurisdiction
33:08for current investigation.
33:10What I'm looking for is to make sure
33:11the windshield VIN matches the VIN inside the door.
33:14That's to confirm the identity of the vehicle.
33:20In Halifax, in just three months,
33:23they've taken back 57 vehicles.
33:26Not long ago, the vehicles were dollar for dollar, US dollar.
33:31So if you bought a Lexus RX 350 for $80,000 Canadian,
33:36you were getting $80,000 US, or better, overseas.
33:41Now, to put it on a container and to ship it overseas,
33:43it's not that expensive to do.
33:45So you think about the profit margin there, it's quite large.
33:52Once seized by customs,
33:54they are sent back to York Regional Police
33:56and to an undisclosed warehouse.
33:59All the vehicles in this warehouse
34:01are from Project Takeback.
34:02They have been arriving from foreign ports
34:05such as Spain and Italy.
34:07By the end of the year,
34:07we're looking to have approximately 2,000 vehicles
34:10that have returned to Canada.
34:11So a lot of these cars are common vehicles.
34:13Like if you're looking at a CR-V to my left,
34:15there's another CR-V to my right.
34:17You've got Lexus RX 350s, very common vehicles.
34:21Behind me, you're going to see Jeep Wrangler.
34:23You've got various pickup trucks.
34:25You'll have Rams and F-150s, very common vehicles.
34:30Each vehicle is treated like a crime scene.
34:34So in this particular one,
34:36the thieves entered through the back window.
34:37They will climb through the vehicle
34:39to get to the onboard diagnostic port,
34:42which is underneath the steering wheel.
34:43Once they get under that,
34:44that's where they'll reprogram the keys.
34:46But if you look also within the vehicle itself,
34:48it's got part of the dashboard that's torn out,
34:51and it's to get to where some of the GPS components are.
34:54So once they'll try and shut that down to make sure
34:56that the vehicle can no longer be tracked.
35:04So what I'm doing in this car is I'm looking for fingerprints
35:07to help identify the person who took the car.
35:09So in this case, they pulled out the dash panel
35:12to help steal the car.
35:13So we're going to fingerprint the inside of the panel
35:15in case they touched it with their bare hands.
35:16So we have our black powder, which is a staple for us.
35:20And we're just fingerprinting the flat and smooth surfaces
35:24where they might leave a fingerprint.
35:25Inside the cup holder of the vehicle,
35:29we discovered this key fob.
35:31Some vehicles are stolen with a reprogrammed key fob.
35:34And one way to tell if it's a reprogrammed fob or not
35:38is to check to see if there's actually
35:41a physically cut key inside.
35:43By releasing that, we can see that there's a blank key inside,
35:47which means that this is a reprogrammed key fob
35:50used to steal the vehicle.
35:51So we're going to take a DNA swab of the item.
35:54We want to see their network.
35:56So we want to identify how they steal the car.
35:58What type of computer programming equipment are they using?
36:00Where are they taking the vehicles?
36:02How are they shipping the vehicles?
36:03And then we work backwards through that.
36:06So that intelligence piece, that investigation of full circle
36:10identifying exactly what happened, the life of that vehicle
36:14from when it was stolen until it was recovered
36:16and returned to Canada is extremely important.
36:20All of those pieces may not be significant on their own,
36:23but when you put it all together, the pieces of the puzzle
36:26definitely paint a clear picture as to how the vehicle was stolen
36:31and who stole it.
36:33Eventually, these luxury cars are sent back
36:36to insurance companies where they will go to auction.
36:40It's important on a number of reasons.
36:41We have to remove the profitability from organized crime.
36:44So when we return that vehicle to Canada,
36:46we're preventing the organized crime group from profiting,
36:48but also we're gathering intelligence,
36:51we're gathering evidence, and then we're returning a small bit
36:54of that profit to either the insurance companies
36:56or citizens of Ontario and Canada.
36:58With Project Take Back early days,
37:01but there's 412 stolen vehicles that are in process right now.
37:05108 of those vehicles have already been returned to Canada,
37:08and 13 are currently on the water right now
37:11being returned to Canada.
37:14We started at probably about a 25% recovery rate,
37:17and we're probably up into the mid to the higher 40s now,
37:21which is a great improvement.
37:22It's just because of that spotlight that's been shone Canada-wide
37:25and everybody really collaborating and working together
37:28to try and, you know, recover these vehicles.
37:43Welcome back.
37:44Police say auto theft is becoming increasingly violent,
37:48with carjackings and home invasions targeting high-end vehicles.
37:52In one tragic case, a 16-year-old lured into a criminal gang
37:57was killed by his own associates.
38:01We now return to the conclusion of a stolen life.
38:08The theft of a Toyota Tundra leads to the murder
38:12of a 16-year-old Montreal boy.
38:15So as it relates to the stolen vehicle, the video canvas was done,
38:20and we were able to secure video which showed a vehicle theft,
38:23an auto theft, and we suspected our victim being involved in that
38:27just hours before, unfortunately, he passed away.
38:31The jump between the murder and the auto theft,
38:34we didn't have any direct knowledge of why the homicide took place,
38:37and we were slowly getting information, getting video,
38:42and speaking to witnesses, which later led us to understanding
38:45why it went from an auto theft to a homicide.
38:49In 2023, 2024, when auto theft was really exploding,
38:52we were seeing a large number of groups from Quebec,
38:55and they were coming in droves in these crime groups
38:58to just steal vehicles and funnel them back to Montreal.
39:00And we would often encounter young people that were, you know,
39:04either marked as runaway, as a missing person,
39:07and they were being exploited by these crime groups as, you know,
39:11the boots on the ground to steal vehicles.
39:13You know, they're essentially recruited by the older members
39:16of the crime groups, by, you know, a more senior person,
39:19and they're brought into the fold with this promise of money
39:22and excitement, and unfortunately, they get kind of attracted to that.
39:26And then they're the ones that are actually physically involved
39:29in stealing the vehicles and generally at more jeopardy
39:32than someone who's arranging the export
39:35and the thefts of the vehicles.
39:37Well, I would say teens are vulnerable in auto theft rings,
39:41similar to other crimes,
39:42and then just vulnerable in life in general, right?
39:46So they still haven't developed the wisdom that age brings,
39:49and they're easily convinced of the benefits of something
39:52without potentially seeing the risk to it.
39:56There's a lot of violence associated to auto theft,
40:00again, progressing to home invasions and carjackings,
40:03but just even in the auto theft world, we've seen violence
40:07between, you know, rival groups or within the same group.
40:10Just in terms of how does an auto theft turn into a homicide,
40:14I think I, you know, just repeat that crime is a high-risk lifestyle,
40:18and when people are involved in that, especially young people,
40:21it's easy for things to go too far and for people to become injured,
40:25or in this case, die through a murder.
40:27So, you know, I can't speculate on exactly what happened that morning,
40:30but certainly a high-risk lifestyle, like auto theft,
40:34people get hurt, people get killed, unfortunately,
40:36so those things happen.
40:38That's hours after the homicide took place
40:41and the victim was brought to the hospital.
40:43The initial thoughts are, for me, was that, like,
40:46obviously she's trying to flee the area.
40:48That's kind of where my mind goes.
40:49She's listed as one of Canada's most dangerous defenders.
40:53I just think the overall totality of the crime that's happened here,
40:55and that it's involving a young victim.
40:59Catherine and a number of her associates
41:01were involved in an auto theft ring
41:03that was based out of the Montreal area.
41:06During their auto thefts, they travelled into the province of Ontario
41:09and committed thefts here and brought the cars back to Montreal.
41:14She is wanted for murder.
41:16It was during one of those events on August 8th of 2024,
41:19they met up with some of their associates in a park
41:22in the Richmond Hill area.
41:24Catherine fatally stabbed one of her associates,
41:26who was at the time a 16-year-old youth, and left him for dead.
41:30We do know that this was an auto theft ring that was operating in the GTA
41:34and as well as in the Montreal area,
41:37and had been operating for some time prior to the event.
41:39We know that she is within Canada.
41:42Essentially, the borders have closed for her.
41:44We're tightening the noose on her right now,
41:45and thanks to the BOLA program, it's gotten even tighter.
41:48The cold-bloodedness of the attack on the youth,
41:51and the fact that we know that she committed this crime,
41:54we have all the evidence to prove it,
41:55we just are unable to find her at this time.
41:59We have received tip information, and we follow up on those tips.
42:03Unfortunately, none of the tips have led us to her at this point,
42:05but we're still hopeful that we're going to receive more information
42:08on her whereabouts and get her in custody.
42:11There have been some arrests within this suspected crime group.
42:15Lensley Francois and Mohamed Ibenhail, who police have identified,
42:20were arrested and charged with auto theft related offences,
42:23which are before the courts.
42:26Another suspect that police have identified
42:28is William Gallant of Quebec City.
42:31He is currently wanted for auto theft related offences.
42:34And this person, who police believe may have been involved,
42:39was never identified.
42:41Though the allegations against Catherine Bergeron-Pinzerone
42:45have not been tested in court,
42:47they are asking you to be on the lookout.
42:50The public can be on the lookout for Catherine Bergeron-Pinzerone.
42:54At the time of the offence, she was 27 years old,
42:57so she's in her late 20s now.
42:58She's a white or Caucasian female, about 5'1",
43:02and weighs anywhere from 120 to 130 pounds.
43:05She has brown hair and brown eyes.
43:07I think it's just really important
43:08that if anyone knows where Catherine Bergeron-Pinzerone is,
43:13that they contact their local police.
43:15They can contact Crime Stoppers,
43:16or they can contact 911 and turn her in.
43:24As police continue their hunt,
43:26special teams work to shut down the auto theft rings
43:30that recruit young people into their networks.
43:33We are going to get out on surveillance.
43:35Auto theft is a gateway crime for a lot of youth.
43:38That's sometimes their first steps in committing crimes,
43:40and then they sometimes progress to violent crimes,
43:43you know, violent carjackings, violent home invasions.
43:46So I think you need to find ways to divert youth early,
43:48and I think there's benefit in looking at what other countries
43:51are doing, and examining that,
43:53and maybe making some changes here.
43:56One recent change promises to make a difference.
44:00There has been some changes to the criminal code.
44:03There's parts of the organized crime code
44:05that involve the use of youth in a crime,
44:08or recruiting youth to commit organized crime.
44:10When organized crime recruits a youth to commit crime
44:13on their behalf, there's an additional charge for that.
44:16So that's very significant.
44:18I think it's going to make a difference,
44:20because it's going to hold organized crime responsible
44:22when they recruit youth into crime.
44:24So it's going to basically put an onus on them.
44:27If that's what you do, you're going to face another charge,
44:29and a substantial charge under organized crime legislation.
44:33Well, I think it's very important that she's arrested.
44:36You know, homicide murder is one of the most serious offences
44:39in the criminal code.
44:41In this case, it involves a young person,
44:43and I think it's really important that she's brought to justice.
44:47Here's one last look at Canada's most wanted,
44:51Catherine Bergeron-Pinzeron.
44:53If you have any information on her whereabouts,
44:56you are asked to call Crime Stoppers.
44:58And remember, it's anonymous.
45:01I'm Anthony Robart.
45:02Thank you for joining us tonight on Crime Beat.
45:06Want more episodes of Crime Beat?
45:08Listen to the Crime Beat Podcast,
45:11now for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify,
45:14or wherever you find your favorite podcasts.
45:16And for past episodes of Crime Beat,
45:19go to the Global TV app, visit globaltv.com,
45:23or check out our Crime Beat YouTube page.
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