A heartless crime
[attach]853[/attach]Imagine arriving at the gravesite of a loved one to find you’ve been the victim of a despicable crime.
Police believe this scenario will unfold many times in the coming months after investigators recovered hundreds of stolen bronze vases and headstone plaques that once adorned gravesites across the GTA, including Mount Hope Public Cemetery in midtown.
York Region Police busted two men they say are responsible for the bizarre theft ring operating in Vaughan, Markham, Peel and Durham. They arrested a third man, a scrap metal dealer, following an investigation that recovered the expensive ornamental goods.
One of the men arrested by York police had been out on bail on theft charges stemming from incidents at the Mount Hope cemetery weeks prior.
On Sept. 2, cemetery officials called police to report a theft of 81 bronze vases.
Three days later, around 1:40 p.m., a man was seen at the Erskine Ave. cemetery walking with three vases in his hands towards his vehicle.
The groundskeeper alerted staff at the cemetery, who closed the front gates. Police located the suspect and found 57 solid bronze vases in his vehicle.
Meanwhile, York Region police began their own investigation into the cemetery thefts after police received similar reports from cemetery officials in Vaughan, York Detective Constable Jason Mendoza said Sept. 29. In each case, the reporting party told police they had witnessed a suspicious man driving a pick-up truck in the cemetery.
Due to the rising number of thefts, the operational manager of the Catholic Archdiocese cemeteries sent a memo to several cemeteries advising them of the thefts and describing the suspect vehicle.
On Sept. 15, York police arrested the same man at a Vaughan cemetery after an employee noticed a pick-up matching the description, Mendoza said. He reported that he saw a man with a pry bar removing bronze plaques from a memorial wall.
[attach]854[/attach]York police allege the accused, working with a second man, had been stealing vases and plaques and selling the goods to an employee at a scrap metal business in Scarborough.
Officers searched the site, recovering 659 bronze vases and 16 headstone plaques.
The scrap metal dealer was paying $1.40 per pound (63 cents per kilogram), according to Detective Sergeant Cam Walter.
The items police found amounted to about 2,300 kg of bronze.
“We are not too sure exactly how many plates were actually stolen,” Mendoza said. “We are still contacting the different cemeteries about exactly what was stolen and how much.”
Walker said it’s possible some of the stolen property was already moved out.
“He had (2,300 kg) there that he was waiting to get a container for to ship out of the country,” Walter said. “It’s quite likely that he’s shipped containers in the past.”
The bronze plaques retail for about $1,200–3,000, and vases about $150 and $300.
Family of deceased resting in any Toronto, Peel, Durham or Halton cemetery are encouraged to visit the gravesite and contact the local police service if anything in missing.
Garry Matchim, 27, and Nicholas Moorhouse, both of Toronto, face theft charges. Jing Zhu Chen, 39, of Toronto, faces a possession of stolen property charge.
[align=right]—with files from Karolyn Coorsh
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