Provincial police are looking to reunite with their owners more than 30 sets of keys seized last week as part of an investigation into a series of recent vehicle dealership thefts in London and Middlesex County.
The thefts are said to have taken place between April 17 and April 29, with at least seven different dealerships in the city and county targeted. Three people have been arrested.
Officers with Chippewa and Oneida police services and the OPP took one person into custody on April 25 after observing them in truck allegedly stolen the same day.
Days later, on April 30, officers raided a Mississauga-area motel and took two people into custody and seized more than 175 vehicle keys, police said.
Eight vehicles were also seized as part of the probe, along with dealership documents, police said.
Officers have managed to identify the owners of approximately 140 keys, but the remaining sets of keys are still unaccounted for, said Middlesex OPP Const. Kevin Howe.
“We still have just over 30 keys right now that are outstanding to identify proper ownership,” he said.
The accused trio — a 26-year-old Oneida Nation of the Thames First Nation man, a 31-year-old London woman, and a 32-year-old St. Thomas man — are facing a combined 33 charges from provincial police.
The two males are also facing separate charges from London police in connection with two dealership thefts in the city — one on April 17 at 1210 Wharncliffe Rd. S, and another on April 25 at 1905 Wharncliffe Rd. S.
Four vehicles and multiple sets of keys were allegedly stolen in the two incidents, police said. It’s not clear if these two incidents are included in the seven dealerships OPP say had been targeted.
It’s also not clear yet whether the incidents involving the three are connected to separate dealership thefts in London over the weekend that led to the arrests of five people from the Kitchener-Waterloo area.
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Howe said provincial police were continuing to work with London police and other police agencies regarding ongoing dealership thefts.
“We are continuing to work with our other policing agencies with regards to any kind of connection between sets of motor vehicles from either dealerships or anywhere in the surrounding areas,” Howe said.
“Those investigations are still ongoing at this time and we’re following up on many leads.”
Police say they’re asking dealerships and companies with fleet vehicles to “re-evaluate their key storage protocols to prevent thieves from easily gaining access to keys for company vehicles and facilities.”
Anyone who believes one of the stolen keys may belong to them is asked to contact 1-800-310-1122.
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