Global News has learned that a car involved in a fatal crash on the Gardiner Expressway Thursday morning was reported stolen in an armed carjacking one hour earlier.
Emergency crews were called to the collision in the westbound lanes of the Gardiner near Royal York Road around 9:20 a.m.
Toronto police said a 27-year-old man driving a 2017 white Honda Accord was heading west on the Gardiner at “a high rate of speed” when he lost control and collided with a flatbed truck.
The man died at the scene.
No other injuries were reported.
Police sources told Global News that the Honda involved in the crash was reported stolen in an armed carjacking from 11 Division in Mississauga around 8:20 a.m.
The suspect involved in the carjacking was reported to be a male.
Part of the investigation will now be to determine whether the man who died in the collision is the same suspect of the carjacking that occurred just one hour earlier.
Police said the westbound lanes of the highway were blocked following the crash, with vehicles getting off at Park Lawn Road.
Police warned drivers to consider an alternate route as traffic services investigated the fatal collision.
The traffic backup lasted for around three hours.
Anyone with information or video footage related to the incident is being asked to contact police at 416-808-1900 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-8477.