A Quebec woman was stunned to learn her stolen black 2011 Audi S4 was used in an bizarre crash-and-grab robbery early Wednesday at a mall north of Toronto.
Surveillance video released by York Regional Police shows the vehicle crashing through the front entrance of Vaughan Mills Mall and then driving around before exiting out another set of doors.
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But police say two occupants of the car, who were wearing hoods, also robbed an electronics store — The Source — which was not shown on the clip.
“That was very surprising,” Taylor-anna Kobinger, of Laval, told The Toronto Sun on Thursday while on her way to the GTA to see if her Audi was still drivable.
“I couldn’t believe it until I saw the video myself.”
Kobinger first listed the car for sale on Facebook Marketplace on Saturday night for $12,500 — hoping to use the money to put a down payment on a house — and arranged to meet an interested man Sunday in Laval just before 2 p.m. at a library near her home.
The first test drive went fine, then the man wanted to go onto the highway, but Kobinger refused due to a flat tire.
“That’s where it got out of hand,” said Kobinger. “He started driving aggressively. Moving the wheel from one place to another. Almost bumping into a car.”
They were then going to switch places in front of a park where a lot of families were playing outside with Kobinger going back to the driver’s side.
“We both got out of the car,” she explained. “He ran right back in. I tried but I slipped. And he took off with car. I yelled. I ran after the car. There was a couple who took me in their car and they let me use their phone to call the cops.”
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Kobinger said the guy, who she thought was in his 20s, initially told her his name was Rashab Teqwan and also provided a photo on Facebook Marketplace but changed the name to Jean Robert and a different photo after stealing the car, blocking her on his number and then deactivating it.
“He was light-skinned black with a tattoo on his left hand. He was also wearing a black puffy jacket and he had a little bit of freckles on his face and he was tall, 5-foot-6 or 7, very skinny, and he had a limited edition of blue kind of shoes.”
Police called Kobinger just before 11 a.m. on Wednesday to inform her that her stolen car had been used in a crime, they had found it abandoned and would be processing it Wednesday night but she could pick up by 8 a.m. Thursday.
So far there have been no arrests.
“The (guy) at the garage told me he’s seen much worse,” she said. “I asked him if it’s drivable back (because) from what I’m seeing on the videos, it looks bad.”
Kobinger, who has the car’s second key, will know when she tries to start it.
Sadly, she didn’t have theft insurance, which was an extra $300.
“It’s been a year-and-a-half that it’s already been payed off,” she said. “I worked hard for it. I feel (all that effort) is wasted.”
jstevenson@postmedia.com