More information has come out about the burglary at Vaughan Mills Mall north of Toronto on February 1 2023. A black, 2011 Audi A4 was used in the crime, smashing through the front doors of the mall before snaking through the hallways to it’s intended target, an electronics store. It seems the car was stolen…in Quebec.
The Audi’s rightful owner is one Ms. Kobinger of Laval, PQ, who posted her vehicle for sale on social media. On January 29 2023 an as-yet unidentified criminal arrived at Ms. Kobinger’s home to test drive the Audi. During the initial test drive, everything was normal, making Ms. Kobinger feel safe. But upon his return for a second test drive, the man took a very different approach. Presumably checking the ability of the car to handle the caper he’d planned, the criminal drove fast, aggressively and dangerously enough to make Ms. Kobinger ask him to stop the car so she could drive it home. He complied, pulled over, and waited for Ms. Klobinger to step out the passenger’s side door… then mashed the gas pedal and took off. With the chip-encoded key in the car, the criminal would not have any problems starting the car again. Far more sophisticated than hot wiring like in the movies!
Three days later, that same car was 500 km away, being used in the daring burglary at Vaughan Mills Mall. Nobody has been identified in the crimes yet, but it appears that this wheelman took a car on a test drive, fooled the owner into stepping out of the vehicle, then drove it to another province where he smashed though a mall entrance and burglarized a store. That is something right out of a Hollywood movie. If this was just one guy, he is no average criminal.
Police later found the Audi abandoned, and surprising no one, the insurance company is refusing to pay to repair it.