2024-07-20 00:39:35
A car repair shop manager is desperate after being the target of at least five attempted car thefts in recent months.
• Also read: Car theft: the police search in big Montreal
“It’s a scourge, really, in Montreal, which is unheard of. In my 30-year career in the car industry, this is the first time I’ve seen a lot, and it’s repetitive,” said Tony Cutrone, director of Carrosserie Euro.
During the latest attempt he was a victim of, three weeks ago, the mechanic decided to intervene.
“I was in the office doing paperwork at the front desk, I took off running, ran out of my office and jumped in the vehicle,” he said.
“I called out to the children, but of course the second they saw me they took off running; three young people, early twenties,” he said.
In his intervention, Mr. Cutrone was injured in the arm. He now wants the police to do more. “It seems that the police do not have the necessary tools or instructions to stop this scourge,” he said.
The police tell him it’s not a priority. “Some police officers say ‘if you see a thief stealing a car, look left and he’s going right’, that’s absurd,” he said.
“These are the same rules for everyone who intervenes, which is to say that we are criminally responsible for any excessive force and that we must only use the necessary force. It is an art, things take many years, and it is not given to a single citizen to be able to intervene when emotions are at their peak,” explained André Gélinas, Retired Detective Sergeant from the SPVM.
Mr. Cutrone said he increased security by adding lights outside his business, surveillance cameras, a security guard and moving vehicles. However, he declared that he would not intervene again.
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