Residents in Oakville’s Palermo West area are worried that a group of people have been watching who's leaving their homes before robbing them.
On Jan. 11, a family residing in the Palermo Village near Dundas Street West and Colonel William Parkway left for vacation in the evening. They had arranged for an extended family member to stop by after a few days to run the car, but when they showed up, they were shocked at what they found.
"She came after 3-4 days and said that the passenger side door was open and the lights were on," the resident (who’s asked not to be named) explained.
"I came back the following Saturday and when I went to run my car, it started up, but the screen, the horn, nothing was working."
The resident owns a Jeep Wrangler, they brought the vehicle to a mechanic to see what was wrong with the technology in the car and what they found was that some of the switches in the hood had been removed. The mechanic told them that someone must’ve broken into the car.
When the family checked the surveillance footage, they were shocked to see three men breaking into their vehicle the following morning after they’d left for vacation at around 5:50 a.m.
The full video can be seen and watched below:
‘They’re professionals’; Oakville neighbourhood on alert after auto theft suspects have begun popping hoods and making their way into vehicles.
— Oakville News (@NewsInOakville) January 25, 2024
After this break-in, the car door was left open for 4 days before the family (on vacation) was made aware. pic.twitter.com/cEjqwarPXS
It appears that the suspects were initially trying to decipher which car was the correct one for them to steal as a suspect reviewed details on his phone before calling for another suspect's assistance. Once decided, they wasted no time opening the hood and getting to work.
The switches these suspects removed mainly controlled the alarm functions in the vehicle. They were able to open the door to the car without it making a sound, however, they weren’t able to steal it.
Immediately, the family knew this situation was not unique in their neighbourhood. “My next-door neighbour told me he had gone away with his family last month and the day after he left, someone broke into his house.”
"Someone is keeping an eye on us over here," the resident said. The family didn’t recall telling anyone in their neighbourhood they were going away. "Nowadays, we call the Ubers and Taxis and all that, it could be that these guys are the informants actually," they suggested.
The resident believes these thieves are practicing on cars before they go out and steal vehicles from driveways.
"They know what to do," they said. "Oakville is getting more and more targeted nowadays and I think the law is too relaxed."
The resident reported the incident to the police, but says no further action has been taken in the investigation.