Trio face 52 charges for GTA carjackings, home invasions

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Two men and a woman have been charged following a series of high-end vehicle carjackings and home invasion robberies in the Greater Toronto Area this summer.

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Toronto Police allege two suspects approached a victim who was parking in his driveway, threatened him with a knife, demanded the keys and then drove off with the victim’s vehicle on July 31.

Police further allege, on Aug. 23, two suspects smashed through a glass door panel and gained access to a residence and found keys to a vehicle. They then went into the garage, reversed the victim’s vehicle through the garage door and drove away.

According to police, the same suspects used large rocks or bricks and smashed the glass areas of front doors, gained entry to homes and searched for keys between Aug. 8 and Sept. 2.

Cops say, in one instance, the suspects used a smoke bomb or fire extinguisher to distract victims and when they could not quickly find keys, they fled back to their vehicle.

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On Wednesday, police said members of the holdup squad, with help from Hamilton Police, executed search warrants on three addresses and one vehicle.

Information from those searches lead to a fifth search warrant at another residence, cops added.

Investigators say a knife, vehicle keys and cash were found and two stolen vehicles, a Mercedes Benz GLS and a Lamborghini Gallardo, were recovered.

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Bilal Abdelmouniim, 20, of Scarborough, faces 24 charges including six counts of fail to comply with release order.

Naz Tokhi, 20, of Toronto, faces 27 charges including 10 counts of fail to comply with a release order.

Almira Birkan, 19, of North York, was charged with possess property obtained by crime.

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Meanwhile, York Regional Police are appealing for witnesses following a carjacking in Markham on Thursday.

Cops say the victim was walking to their vehicle around 9:45 p.m. in a plaza parking lot, in the area of Hwy. 7 E. and Rodick Rd., when they were assaulted by a suspect who fled in the victim’s grey 2022 Mercedes AMD GT sedan.

The suspect is still outstanding and is described as a male, skinny and wearing all black clothing.

Investigators are appealing for any witnesses to come forward or anyone who may have video surveillance or dashcam footage in the area at the time of the incident to contact the York Regional Police Hold-Up Unit at 1-866-876-5423, ext. 6630.

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