TORONTO – Police have laid six charges against a Toronto firefighter they allege lured people out of fire stations so he could rob them.
Toronto police say there were three such incidents they now attribute to 35-year-old Joshua Pittarelli-Bucks, who has worked as a Toronto firefighter since 2006.
Toronto police Const. David Hopkinson says the first such incident took place in July of last year.
Hopkinson says a false alarm was called into a local station using a borrowed cellphone, and alleges that Pittarelli-Bucks stole a number of personal items from the fire station while crew members were out responding to the bogus blaze.
Five weeks later, Hopkinson says the scenario played out again twice on the same night.
The second time, he said the fire chief of the target station gave chase and recognized the alleged thief.