Ontario Carjacking Task Force Recovers $10M in Stolen Vehicles, Lays 749 Charges

A corvette is recovered by the Ontario Provincial Police as part of Project Titanium, an investigation into a criminal network involved in violent auto thefts and home invasions. (Ontario Provincial Police/Handout)

A police task force investigating Ontario carjackings has made 124 arrests, laid 749 criminal charges, and recovered 177 stolen vehicles valued at more than $10 million over a six-month period.

The Provincial Carjacking Joint Task Force, led by Toronto Police and the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), focused on violent vehicle-related crimes in and around the Toronto region, making arrests and recoveries between September 2023 and March 2024, Toronto Police Deputy Chief Robert Johnson told a June 25 press conference.

“Yet again, auto theft remains one of the top revenue generators for organized crime, and this challenge requires a collective effort,” Deputy Chief Johnson said. “Although this joint task force has concluded, our commitment remains unwavering.”

He said Toronto Police will continue to target organized crime and violent auto thefts with the help of area law enforcement.

Information collected by the task force also led to the launch of Project Titanium, a probe into a criminal organization linked to violent car thefts and home invasions, OPP Deputy Commissioner Marty Kearns said at the press conference. He said the overall task force arrest tally includes results from Project Titanium which “successfully” dismantled the criminal network.

“Vehicle crime is a complex issue, but one thing is simple: Our communities deserve to feel safe when they lay their heads down at night,” Dep.-Comm. Kearns said. “It is the right of every Ontarian to feel at ease in their communities.”

Project Titanium

OPP Detective-Inspector Scott Wade said the probe linked the criminal network to armed home invasions, vehicle thefts, carjackings, store robberies, and other break-and-enters.

“What is alarming about this investigation is that the vehicle thefts were not simply carried out in the middle of the night on an unoccupied target vehicle,” Det.-Insp. Wade said. “Many of the thefts involve violence, some with forceful entry into homes with demands that the owners hand over the keys to their vehicles.”

The investigation linked the criminal organization to more than 100 crimes, including 21 home invasions and three carjackings, he said. A total of 103 charges were laid against eight people after search warrants were executed in Toronto and Peel Region last week.

Project Titanium recovered 23 stolen vehicles worth roughly $5 million. Officers also confiscated a loaded Glock 17 firearm and ammunition, $2,000 in Canadian currency, auto theft tools, money counters, fake IDs, and ski masks.

Facing 45 charges in connection with Project Titanium is Schuyler Holloway, 22, of Mississauga, while Michael Ackley, 20, of Toronto faces 16 charges. Also charged are Alexis Holloway, 56, and Jahmoi Derrick Williams, 19, of Mississauga; Jahiem James, 22, of Brantford; Teroy Warner, 19, and Prince Adu Yeboah, 23, both of Brampton; and Treyvaun Gomez, 21, of no fixed address.

Repeat Offenders

Another “staggering” trend in auto theft is the number of repeat offenders and young offenders involved, Deputy Chief Johnson said.

Forty-four percent of the 124 individuals arrested by the task force were out on bail at the time of their arrest and 61 percent of that number were again released on bail.

“Another interesting stat … 36 out of the 124 individuals arrested—that’s 30 percent—they were young offenders,” Deputy Chief Johnson said, adding that 47 percent of the youths arrested were reoffenders and 72 percent were again released on bail.

He said there are a number of reasons young people get involved in vehicle theft but the main incentive is the low risk and high payoff.

“It’s a lucrative business fuelled by organized crime, and there’s a lot of money to be made relatively quickly,” he said.

Deputy Chief Johnson expressed frustration regarding the statistics on repeat offenders, saying a lack of consequences may be a driving factor in the thefts.

“We bring offenders before the court, and then there’s another system that takes over … and the decision sometimes, to our frustration, is that those folks are released,” he said. “Thankfully, in this country, people are given a second chance. But when it’s multiple times, it is frustrating for sure.”