Halton police searching for alleged carjackers who drove through playground with children playing
Halton Regional Police investigators are trying to track down two men who, they say, were responsible for a violent carjacking, two hit and runs, stealing gas, and driving through a playground where children were playing Tuesday.
It all started around 9:30 a.m. According to a police news release, that's when officers saw a stolen white pickup truck weaving in and out of traffic in the area of Derry Road and Holly Avenue in Milton.
That truck, a 2014 Ford F-250, had previously been reported stolen from Peel Region on Jan. 7.
The truck approached a police cruiser Tuesday morning and then sped off, police say.
"Police were not able to stop the vehicle as it fled," the news release reads. That same truck was then seen "driving erratically throughout Milton," and was involved in two hit and run collisions as well as driving off without paying for gas at a Petro Canada Station on Main Street East around 9:35 a.m., police say.
The truck was then seen driving through a fence at Pineview Public School, and into a playground where children were playing, police say. No injuries were reported during any of those incidents.
Then around 9:40 a.m., police got a call about a carjacking in the parking lot of a Metro located at 1050 Kennedy Circle in Milton.
WATCH | Milton carjacking caught on camera:
Investigators say that same pickup truck had hit a Honda CR-V that was parked in the lot, then two men got out and smashed the driver's side window of the CR-V.
The men then forced the door open and threw the woman who was in the driver's seat to the ground, police say. The men then got in the CRV and sped off.
A video of the incident shared on social media shows the woman screaming as she is pulled from the car, then lying motionless on the pavement after the suspects took off. Police say they are aware of the video, and say the victim was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Investigators say the stolen CR-V was later recovered just before 3 p.m. in the area of Kennedy Road South in Brampton. No one was inside at the time.
"This is a shocking and violent crime that put the lives of many Milton residents at risk. We are dedicating all available resources and will relentlessly pursue those responsible and hold them accountable," Halton police Supt. Dave Stewart said in a statement.
Police are describing the first suspect as a thin, white man standing about six feet, two inches tall, wearing a grey sweater.
The second suspect is described as a white man with dark hair in his late 20s, clean shaven and wearing a dark hooded sweater.
Anyone with information is being asked to contact police or Crime Stoppers.
