Thieves using a fake weapon demand the keys of car owners and then speed off with their vehicles.
A 17-year-old and a woman have been charged by Toronto Police with five gunpoint robberies of expensive vehicles in the community over a two-week period.
Police said the gun-toting theft spree began with April 11 robbery in which a fake weapon was used to rob a variety store.
On April 17 the alleged thief was charged with a gunpoint robbery at North Queen Street and Kipling Avenue area.
Police said in that theft the victim was sitting in a parked vehicle when approached by four youths who produced a handgun and demanded the vehicle in which they fled in.
A 17-year-old was charged by police for using a fake weapon to steal five vehicles from their owners.
The vehicle turned up in a collision in Mississauga and a 26-year-old woman was arrested as she tried to flee the scene by foot.
Less than a week later police were called to the robbery of a taxi driver who was robbed at gunpont of his vehicle in a fare dispute in the Spadina Avenue and Lake Shore Blvd. w. area.
The suspect was arrested on April 18 and charged with a number of offences in relation to breaching release conditions.
Police said the suspect was responsible for a April 21 car theft by producing a gun and demanding keys from a motorist in the Bloor Street W., and Islington Avenue area.
A day later another vehicle was stolen from a man using a knife and handgun forced himself into the car and took off.
On April 23 a thief used another handgun to demand the keys for another vehicle in the Burnhamthorpe and Mill Roads area,
The teenager was charged with five offences of vehicle thefts with a firearm and a string of other offences.
All the vehicles stolen were recovered by police. He appeared in court on April 25