Young Carjacking Suspects Collared On Foot But Are They Connected To Other Violent Incidents?

2008-02-07T00:19:00.000-08:00

Wednesday February 6, 2008

CityNews.ca Staff

Peel Regional Police have collared two youthful suspects after a brazen car jacking late Tuesday and investigators are now trying to determine if they same culprits are responsible for a frightening string of similar crimes that took place in Mississauga over a 24-hour span. The suspects, a 19-year-old man and a 16-year-old young offender, remain behind bars after the latest incident, which took place just before 9pm Tuesday.

Alfredo Salinas was standing outside his car at his Burnhamthorpe Road W. home in Mississauga when he noticed a man running towards him.

"I thought somebody was running to catch a bus or something," he recalled. "And the closer he got to me, then I realized he was wearing a black bandana over his face and he was pointing a gun at me. And there was another guy coming behind me. The second guy was the one that was holding me down ... I think he put a gun to my head. I felt something cold."

After knocking Salinas to the ground the suspects stole his wallet, cell phone - and car keys. They used those keys to get into his car, put it in reverse and roar out of his driveway. The startled man's wife called 911, setting their eventual capture in motion.

After piloting the stolen car to near Winston Churchill Boulevard and Unity Drive, police caught up to the duo, after the driver of the pilfered auto lost control at the wheel.

"The suspect vehicle struck a tree ... and both male suspects fled on foot," explains Insp. Lee Ware. "Uniformed officers responding set up a perimeter, and a search by the canine and tactical units, and both suspects were located after an extensive search, and both parties are under arrest."

Cops also found two pellet guns tossed away in a backyard and now say they believe the pair was involved in at least three other carjackings in the area - including one from January 11th in which a victim was hit in the eye with a pellet.

"Our canine officers did an excellent job in tracking both the suspects and subsequently locating two guns that were used in the incident," adds Sgt. Taufic Saliba.

Despite the accusations, police haven't yet definitively connected them to two other incidents that horrified the city on Tuesday. A Mississauga man and his wife were both roughed up in front of their homes, after two armed men forced them out of their Dodge Caravan. That same car was used two hours later to boost another set of wheels from a postal worker in Oshawa.

Nineteen-year-old Carlo Brandy and a 16-year-old are charged with a number of robbery and weapons offences. They were in a Brampton court on Wednesday.