MANDEL: Prolific Toronto luxury car thief stalled – for now
· Toronto Sun
Their luxury vehicles were gone in sixty seconds.
And the masked car thief with the telltale Moncler black puffy vest with a rip in the back would be caught on video each time as one of the audacious crew who broke into their Toronto homes in the middle of the night with a rock or cement block to grab their keys as most of them slept with their children nearby.
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Prolific car thief Bilal Abdelmouniim, 21, was convicted Friday on 23 counts in a string of GTA home invasions and car thefts in October 2023, which included four successful heists, two attempts and one assault on a homeowner who tried to stop him.
The value of the vehicles boosted by Abdelmouniim and his posse ranged from $60,000 to $340,000.
The only issue at his trial was identity.
Crown attorneys Alice Bradstreet and Anjali Rajan presented Superior Court Justice Gillian Roberts with a video compilation of home security videos from each theft as well as bodyworn camera footage of an interaction of Abdelmouniim with Toronto Police in March 2023 when he was wearing the same Moncler vest – though it wasn’t torn at that point.
They argued it was the same tall, slim, fit young man.
And the judge agreed.
“When I consider all the circumstances together, I am satisfied that the only reasonable conclusion is that Mr. Abdelmouniim is the man wearing the black puffy vest with the distinctive tear in the back in all six occurrences,” she wrote in her judgment.
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Stolen vehicles likely bound for overseas
It looked as easy as cherry-picking – very expensive cherries likely bound for customers overseas.
According to the ruling, he and three accomplices first hit a house on Glencairn Ave. in midtown at 3:36 a.m. on Oct. 5, 2023.
Using a stone from the backyard, Abdelmouniim shattered the window next to the front door, reached inside and opened the door. They grabbed the car keys and made off with a 2021 Mercedes Benz GL 580 worth $150,000 and a 2024 Porsche Turbo S valued at $340,000.
The homeowners, asleep with their children, woke to the sound of shattered glass and watched their cars being driven away.
Three days later, Abdelmouniim was one of five car thieves who broke into a home on Tangmere Rd. at 3:26 a.m. and stole a Mercedes Maybach GLS 600 worth $300,000 out of the driveway. They also stole three watches, including an $800,000 Patek Philippe.
Using a tracking device installed by Mercedes on the Maybach, Toronto Police traced it 20 minutes later in the company of a black BMW – but it took off at high speed. Police later found the BMW in an underground lot at 2 Sheppard Ave. E. and installed a tracking device on it.
On Oct. 12, 2023, at 2:22 a.m., the crew arrived in the BMW being tracked by police and boosted two luxury vehicles from the driveway of a home on Lloyd Manor Rd. – a white 2021 Mercedes Benz GL valued at $60,000 and a black $279,000 Mercedes AMG.
Homeowner and kids asleep as thieves struck
The homeowner was asleep with her children when they drove off.
Just before 3 a.m., Abdelmouniim, who was masked but wearing the same puffy black vest with the left decal, was seen on surveillance video of an Esso station stopping to fill the stolen white Mercedes with gas.
On Oct. 16, 2023, at around 3:17 a.m., a group broke into a home on St. Leonard’s Ave. and drove off with a $218,000 Mercedes S 580 and a $108,500 BMW X7. The man in the puffy vest, Abdelmouniim, was caught on video throwing a rock through the front window to unlock the door.
The homeowners, asleep with their children, awoke to shattered glass and one of them watched their vehicles being driven away.
Two failed attempts before arrested
The crew’s next two attempts failed.
On Oct. 17, 2023, just before 3 a.m., Abdelmouniim was seen arriving with four accomplices. After scouting a house with the BMW X7 in the driveway, he threw a large cement block at the back of the home. The four accomplices kicked in the door, but he was the only one who managed to enter – t hough not for long.
Abdelmouniim can be seen fleeing in a hurry after a scuffle with the homeowner, who was awake and working on his computer.
After another failed car theft the next day, Abdelmouniim was arrested on Oct. 28, 2023.
But after being released on bail, he’s alleged to have gone right back to work. Abdelmouniim faces a slew of new charges at his next trial in November.