An unforgiving traffic speed camera on the outskirts of Etobicoke is gaining notoriety as a top money earner for the City of Toronto.

The busy Automated Speed Enforcement (ASE) camera pointed towards a nice stretch of road at Renforth Dr., near Lafferty St., in Etobicoke Centre, Ward 2, has issued 890 tickets against lead-footed motorists in a four-month period.

This ASE, as the system is called, includes 50 cameras that from its installation in July 2020 to October 2020, issued more than 54,000 tickets, which are mailed to the registered owner of the vehicles.

The Renforth Dr. traffic cam issued almost 900 tickets during that period, or about 12 per cent of the tickets mailed out.

The camera was also connected to the single biggest fine issued: $718 to a vehicle owner driving 89 km/h in a 40 km/h zone.

City officials said the most frequent repeat offender was a driver in Scarborough North, who received 17 tickets from a device located near Crow Trail and Bradstone Square.

They noted as the initial enforcement window continued, there was a notable reduction in both the overall number of tickets issued and also the number of repeat offenders.

The cameras were moved to other locations last November.

Mayor John Tory said one car was ticketed 12 times in a month.

From October 7 to 31, the last day before the cameras were moved, there were 5,174 tickets issued, with 251 repeat offenders.

The cameras were installed as a key part of the City’s Vision Zero plan to eliminate traffic-related fatalities.

For the first 90 days, motorists caught speeding received warning letters instead of tickets as part of a public education campaign.

Area residents say they are aware of the cash-collecting camera in their area and always slow down when leaving their homes.

 

 

 

 

 

Some New Toronto residents are trying to save the iconic Campbell Soup 200-foot smokestack from being demolished in March.

The destruction of historic smokestacks, some more than 100-years-old, which represents part of our industrial past, have always been a popular pastime for area residents to witness.

The last smokestack that was taken down was in 1990 when the massive stack at Goodyear Tire and Rubber Plant came crashing to the ground after more than 70 years of service.  The plant was constructed in 1917.

At one time, the U.S.-based company was manufacturing 50 per cent of all the auto tires in Canada and it was a leader in the tire industry for more than 60-years.

It was no wonder that Goodyear ex-workers and fans from across the city turned out more than 31-years-ago this month to witness history when that smokestack was brought to the ground with explosives.

Another major removal was in 2006 with the explosion of the four stacks, dubbed the Four Sisters, at the Lakeview Generating Station, in Port Credit, which was built in 1958.

The impressive four stacks were each 500 feet, or 150 metres tall and could be seen on the lakefront for miles.

Then Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion joined dozens of city residents at McMillan Headland Park to watch as the historic smokestacks fell to the ground like thunder.

Now that workers have begun flattening the former Campbell Soup site, at 60 Birmingham Ave., residents are talking about the giant smokestack.

Some residents would like to keep the stack and have written letters to the developer without success. Other residents say they are concerned by the noisy truck traffic that the warehouses will bring.

Some have taken to social media to make plans to try and save the smokestack as others try to find a good spot to capture images of the crash.

Officials of QuadReal Development, the developers of the site, confirmed that the stack will be demolished in March.

Campbell’s Soup has hired generations of families and purchased crops from many in the area.

The stack has stood over the sprawling 18.8-acre site since the plant was opened in November 1931.

Some long-time residents are concerned that it is the last-surviving major smokestack in the area and brings and end of the industrial era in New Toronto, during a time with powerhouses as Goodyear Tire and Rubber, Anaconda Steel and other multi-national companies.

It was a bittersweet moment for many who on the one hand were happy to see an end to what was considered the most significant single source of pollution for the GTA, but on the other hand were saying goodbye to a piece of the city’s history and landmarks.

Police are concerned this night time prowler may become more brazen.

Officers have stepped up a search to locate a suspect in connection with an ongoing prowl by night investigation.

Police have released a photo of the suspect obtained from a security camera.

In May of 2020, police say investigators began looking into a number of incidents reported in the area of Weston Road and Church Street.

Investigators said that between March and May, an unknown man had been “acting suspicious” in residential areas on several occasions between the hours of 10 p.m. and 7 a.m.

Police in a release said they had worked to identify the man and have now taken the step of releasing an image of the suspect in an effort to identify him.

He is described by police as standing five-foot-seven, with a slim build and a dark beard. He was last seen wearing a black winter jacket, black pants, black puma shoes with white soles, according to police.

Anyone with information relating to the investigation is asked to contact police at 416-808-2200 or Crime Stoppers.

 

 

 

 

 

Toronto Police officers and the family of Sargeant Ryan Russell said prayers and paid their respects to the slain officer on Tuesday to mark the 10^th anniversary of his death.

A small ceremony was held on January 12 inside 52 Division where Russell worked when he was killed while officers from the force’s Mounted Unit paid their respects outdoors.

Chief Jim Ramer spoke, as did Pastor Wendell Gibbs and Supt. Hugh Ferguson, who was Russell’s boss at the time. Ferguson read part of the eulogy he delivered at Russell’s funeral.

Russell, who would have been 35, was killed on duty on January 12, 2011; never saw his toddler son, Nolan, grow up to attend schools and become a fine teenager.

“I wish I could turn back time,” Russell’s wife, Christine, told guests. “I wish I could get back the life that I had.”

She is raising Nolan, 12, outside Toronto because the city holds too many memories from that tragic time.

Russell was killed while attempting to stop the driver of a stolen snow plow when he was struck on Avenue Rd., north of Davenport Rd. The six-month sergeant later succumbed to his injuries in hospital.

“He was out doing his job in the early-morning hours in a very dangerous situation, and put his life on the line, and tragically has lost his life doing his job,” Chief Bill Blair said the day of the tragic death.  “It was a day the city will never forget.”

More than 10,000 people crowded into the Metro Convention Centre for his funeral and there was not a dry eye when his widow walked in, holding tight to the hand of their two-year-old.

Found not criminally responsible due to a mental disorder by a jury in 2013, Richard Kachkar, now 54, was granted an absolute discharge this past summer by the Ontario Review Board.

“He is fully and completely a free man. That’s it,” Russell reflects. “It’s a major disappointment.”

Two weeks after Kachkar’s absolute discharge, Russell received more bad news: the police horse named in honour of her slain husband had died suddenly in his stall from eating a poisonous plant. “It was a crazy July,” she says.

Christine calls the 10th anniversary of her late husband’s tragic death bittersweet and cannot believe a decade has passed. “I don’t think anybody can. Where did the time go?

She said every day since her husband was killed has been difficult, but she’s tried to shield Nolan by not talking about how his father died.

We all hate those Canada Revenue Agency scam phone calls that arrive just as we are having dinner.

The RCMP due to public pressure have been cracking down on the phone-calling culprits and have arrested a number of Brampton residents.

The most recent man arrested will appear in Brampton Court on January 18 to face charges of fraud over $5,000, possession of proceeds of crime and laundering the proceeds of crime.

Another man was charged last month with similar offences.

The RCMP allege the recent suspect was charged in connection with “transnational telephone frauds, including the CRA telephone scam, the bank investigator scam and the Tech Support scam.”

Staff-Sgt Ken Derakshan, of the Greater Toronto Area Financial Crime Section, said the arrests stem from a 2018 investigation called Project Octavia.

“These telephone fraudsters, operating from overseas, have been targeting the Canadian public since 2014,” the Mounties said in a release. “These fraudsters continue to modify their deceitful pitch to target Canadians.”

Derakshan said 10 people have been charged in a number of police raids on illegal call centres in India, which led to arrests in Canada.

“Whether masterminds of the scheme or mules facilitating the money laundering, the RCMP will investigate and bring to justice those who extend the criminal tentacles of their fraudulent operations into Canada,” he warned. “Fraud and money laundering cause devastating financial and psychological consequences to their victims.”

The RCMP said between 2014 and 2020, the CRA scam resulted in reported victim losses totaling more than $18.5 million. As of October 2020, the CRA, the bank investigator and Tech support scams have led to victim losses of more than $34 million.

Police said investigators uncovered “money mules or money mule managers,” who helped launder proceeds of crime within Canada and overseas.

The Mounties have charged Abhinav Bector, 25, and Thomas Pao,25, in connection with the scheme. Bector will appear Brampton court next Monday.

Two other men were charged last November and are believed to be in Nepal, police said.

Police warn that If someone on the phone is asking for your personal or banking information, hang up and report the activity to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre. If the caller is threatening you or your family, hang up and contact your local police.

If you receive an e-mail or text message making suspicious tax claims and urging you to click on a link to submit information, don’t interact and report the occurrence to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, through its website at www.antifraudcentre.ca, or by telephone at 1-888-495-8501.

 

It took more than six months, but Toronto Police have arrested two Mississauga thugs who are accused of the gunpoint robbery of a store in the Alderwood area.

The two were arrested by members of the Hold Up Squad on January 6 in connection with the May 2020 heist of a store in the Brown’s Line and Horner Ave. area, police said.

The store was not identified by police.

Detectives said in a release that the suspects last May 25 entered the story and approached the counter.

“One man produced a handgun and went behind the counter and demanded cash,” officers said.

The victim opened the register and cash was taken as the second man took merchandise, police said.

Both men then fled the store.

The quick-footed duo were arrested and charges laid after police executed a search warrant on December 31 to view a property in Mississauga.

David Boutilier, 37, is charged with robbery with a firearm, wear disguise and possession of property obtained by crime.

James O’Leary, 41, is charged with robbery with a firearm, disguise with intent, possession of property under $5,000, fail to comply with a release order and fail to comply with probation.

The men appeared in Toronto West Court on January 7.

Police said anyone with information is asked to contact police at 416-808-7350, Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477), online at www.222tips.com, online on our Facebook Leave a Tip page, or text TOR and your message to CRIMES (274637). Download the free Crime Stoppers Mobile App on iTunes or Google Play.

Many Etobicoke residents are mourning the death of a popular front-line healthcare worker who passed away from complications due to COVID-19.

Connie Cerdan, who has a loving family, tested positive for the virus on December 29 and died suddenly at home on January 3, her family said. She was 66.

A Go Fund Me page has raised more than $10,300, with a goal of raising $20,000, to help her family.

“Connie was the ultimate caregiver,” according to the fund’s organizer Victoria Riley. “She was a very thoughtful and generous person who always prioritized the needs of others before her own.”

Officials of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) said Connie was a member of Local 597 since 1974. She was employed helping with seniors at Montage Support Services, on Oakwood Rd.

She was working in the healthcare field for more than 45 years and had treated hundreds of patients.

“Connie was known for her thoughtful, kind nature,” wrote union President Warren (Smokey) Thomas and First Vice-President, Eduardo (Eddy) Almeida. ”She was loved and respected by her co-workers and everyone she supported at her workplace.”

They said she hosted an annual BBQ at her home for all Montage clients and staff, which ‘speaks volumes about her dedication to her job.’

“Connie was a frontline hero who always went above and beyond to take care of her family, her co-workers, and the Ontarians she helped every day,” the union officials said. “It is truly heartbreaking any time that the Connies’ of this world are taken from us.”

Connie was popular and well-loved by her co-workers for the comfort and caring that she showed her patients.

“Our deepest and heartfelt condolences go out to everyone who is affected by Connie’s passing,” said Laurence and Cynthia Young. “We have wonderful memories that will always remain with us.”

“Such heartbreaking news,” wrote Marianne Enge. “She was a lovely lady who was so kind and funny.”

Her friend Sandra Kolpakow said Connie will be sadly missed by many.

“Connie will always be remembered as the most generous friend who loved celebrations, karaoke, her garden, dancing, and most of all her devoted children and loving mother,” mourned Kolpakow.

“Our family will always remember how truly giving and loving Connie was,” recalled Johanna Scheepers. “We are deeply saddened by her passing and will carry her memory in our hearts.”

Donations can be made by searching under Connie’s name at gofundme.com

 

 

 

Just when you think you’ve heard it all.

Toronto Police fraud cops are warning residents of an escalating “loan processor” online job application scam that is making the rounds.

Detectives from 51 Division say a victim is hired from an online search to work as a “loan processor.”

“The victim is instructed to attend several addresses in the City of Toronto to pick up cheques from mailboxes before depositing them,” officers warn.

Police say the victim is “then instructed to withdraw cash for their own account and meet people who are purporting to need loans.”

“The cash is handed over to the fake clients or the victim is instructed to send e-transfers to them,” said Det. Const. Elliott Lee.

Lee said in both scenarios, the cheques that have been deposited are not honoured and person whom they handed over cash as a loan is long gone.

“The victim is ultimately left in financial debt,” he said.

Police are reminding the public to remain vigilant, especially during these uncertain times. It is best to thoroughly research any prospective employers and question activities that require dealing with quantities of money, especially in unusual circumstances.
Anyone with information in relation to this type of fraud is asked to contact Lee at 416-808-5179.
Details can also be phoned to police at 416-808-5100, Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477), online at www.222tips.com, online on our Facebook Leave a Tip page, or text TOR and your message to CRIMES (274637).