Oakville man arrested after catalytic converters stolen from Toronto food charity’s trucks

Toronto police charged a man from Oakville Thursday after catalytic converters were stolen from a food rescue organization early Sunday morning.

Officers say they responded to reports of a theft at around 12:16 a.m. in the East Mall and North Queen Street area.

Investigators say the suspect or suspects had allegedly driven into a parking lot, cut the fence and entered the parking lot of Second Harvest, a charity that rescues food en route to landfills and redistributes it to people in need, on foot.

They then say the suspect or suspects removed several catalytic converters from trucks in the parking lot, and fled the scene in the same vehicle they arrived in.

Video from Second Harvest shows people entering the property and what appears to look like lights can be seen under the trucks.

READ MORE: 27 arrested after rash of catalytic converter thefts in Hamilton

Detectives say they executed a search warrant at a home in Oakville Wednesday, where they located and arrested the accused.

“We received information as to the video that may have been present at the time we released that information previously, which led to tips from the community,” said Toronto Police Service Acting Superintendent Jeff Bangild. “As a result of those tips, officers from 22 Division executed a Criminal Code search warrant.”

Police have charged 29-year-old Corey Peter Lane with three counts of break and enter to commit an indictable offence, three counts of failing to comply with a release order, and three counts of failing to comply with a probation order.

Lane was scheduled to appear in a Toronto bail centre Thursday morning.

Investigators believe the accused is connected to other additional catalytic converter thefts targeting businesses in the area.

“We believe that he is responsible for this theft incident as well as two others,” said Bangild. “As a result of the investigation, we are still seeking another suspect in relation to this, as well as the vehicle that was previously released on a news release.”

Previous reports described the vehicle as a black Infiniti G25 four-door sedan with black rims.

In a statement to CHCH News, a Second Harvest spokesperson said, “the damage to the vehicles is still being assessed, and we expect it will be another two to three weeks before the trucks can return to the road.”

“Food for Life has five trucks in the fleet, and if we were to show up on a Tuesday morning and none of those trucks are available for us, it really translates into tens of thousands of dollars, sorry, tens of thousands of pounds each day of food that we wouldn’t be able to pick up and distribute,” said Karen Randell, the executive director of Food for Life, a rescue hub in Hamilton and Halton.

Randell says she was disheartened when she heard about what happened to Second Harvest, because it’s already increasingly expensive to operate a hub right now, because of rising costs including gas.

“I believe what I saw was the cost of a pair of these trucks is around $80,000,” said Randall. “That’s a significant loss to a not-for-profit.”

Additional thefts in Toronto involving the theft of catalytic converters

Police say at around 12:46 a.m. on Sunday, unknown suspects allegedly broke into a business in the East Mall and North Queen Street area, and damaged several vehicles during the process of removing catalytic converters before fleeing the area in a vehicle.

Detectives also say unknown suspects allegedly broke into a business at around 2:01 a.m. in the North Queen Street and Kipling Avenue area on Sept. 13,where several vehicles were damaged during the process of removing catalytic converters.

Toronto police say the investigation remains ongoing, as they attempt to locate additional suspects, and businesses that may have been victims of these thefts.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 416-808-2200.

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