York Regional Police say they’ve cracked a major bike theft ring in the GTA, responsible for dozens of stolen motorcycles, say the Sun and the Star.
After an investigation that went on for months, the police say they arrested two men (30-year old Sarath Chhean of Toronto, and 28-year old Chan Lyof Bradford) who they say were in possession of several stolen bikes. The investigation, dubbed “Triumph,” also tracked down another 35 stolen bikes, supposedly worth more than $600,000.
Police arrested two men at a GTA storage facility; they also found seven stolen bikes at the facility, and tools that could be used to grind the original VIN off a bike, and stamp a new one.
Allegedly, most of the stolen bikes were nabbed from underground parking garages during the winter, when the owners wouldn’t notice their thefts; then, the supposed crooks would put a new VIN on the bike and sell it on the used market.
The bikes will be returned to the insurance companies who paid out their losses.
Funny (sad) thing is that on a local motorcycle forum, a member turned up an old story from The Star that listed one of those rather unusual names, linked to a car theft ring that was arrested in 2006.