A Good Samaritan's car was stolen during a medical emergency in Toronto

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A good Samaritan is one of the latest victims of car theft in Toronto.

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The incident happened on April 12 in the western part of the city. According to a Toronto police statement to the National Post, “a citizen stopped his vehicle to assist a person with a medical condition. “While he was helping this man, someone stole his car.”

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Police said the vehicle has not been located and there is no description of the suspect.

On April 14, a video shared on TikTok by @coachrobyn, who appeared to have witnessed the incident, went viral on social media.

“Somebody came and stole this guy's car,” says the cameraman, looking at the Good Samaritan standing next to the ambulance. “They didn't see it happen because they were helping a man on the ground.”

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It's one of the latest incidents in Toronto's car theft crisis.

Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw said last month that more than 12,000 cars were stolen in Toronto last year, which equates to a car theft every 40 minutes.

The value of stolen cars is estimated at 800 million dollars.

This year, this problem has become worse. According to Demkiw, there have been 68 car thefts so far in 2024, which is a 106 percent increase compared to the same period last year.

“This is not just a law enforcement issue,” Demkiw said at a board meeting last month, according to the Canadian Press.

“It's time to work boldly and collaboratively with all levels of government, including car manufacturers, port authorities and trucking companies… We need manufacturers to better protect vehicles from theft and cooperate with investigators to apprehend stolen vehicles.” offenders will promptly return the vehicles to their owners.”

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In January, the federal government announced $121 million over five years to help Ontario police tackle the car theft crisis, along with gun and gang violence.

This funding is in addition to the $51 million the Ontario government committed to the cause last May. The money, allocated over a three-year period, will help police identify and dismantle the criminal networks behind car theft.

Meanwhile, some car theft victims have taken their own precautions, including tracking their cars for private recovery and installing bollards in their driveways to protect them from theft.

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