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Police recovered her stolen vehicle, but that's still not good enough for Brampton woman

Police recovered her stolen vehicle, but that's still not good enough for Brampton woman

A Brampton, Ont., woman is being reunited with her stolen vehicle after a bizarre car theft, but she remains furious with police for what she calls a stunning amount of inaction.

Monika Gaddu, 31, located her stolen Acura TL Monday a kilometre away from her home, after reporting it missing Sunday.

Gaddu called Peel Regional Police immediately upon finding the vehicle. Police told her not to touch the vehicle, and since it was not an emergency or a crime in progress, she would have to wait for officers to collect the stolen vehicle and dust it for fingerprints and other evidence.

Gaddu, who is three-and-a-half months pregnant, waited there with her husband for hours, until finally leaving the vehicle at midnight to go back to the police station.

By the time law enforcement did get there, the vehicle was gone — again.

On Thursday, she contacted CBC Toronto, saying police did not take her case seriously enough.

CBC Toronto took her back to the street she had spotted her vehicle to ask nearby residents if they had seen it. One neighbour said the car had been back on-and-off throughout the week, but no police officer had been to see her and she was unaware the unfamiliar car was, in fact, stolen.

"I spoke with the officer this morning and he said 'the neighbour called it in,' so if me and you didn't speak to the neighbour, this case would still be going on," Gaddu said in a phone interview Friday with CBC Toronto reporter Chris Glover. She is waiting for police to give her instructions as to where to pick up her vehicle.

"The only reason the car was found is because the neighbour called it in after meeting with us, so again someone else did their job."

Scared in her own home

Peel police told CBC Toronto the case was being investigated, and the force had tracked down security footage of the car being taken from Gaddu's driveway around 4 a.m. Sunday.

Police added that Sunday was a busy night for calls, and crimes that are not in progress are lower in priority.

Police did not explain why neighbours near where the vehicle was spotted by Gaddu were not canvassed by officers.

Gaddu has ensured the nine security cameras on her property are now recording, but said she still doesn't feel safe there.

"Yes, I'm happy I found my vehicle, don't get me wrong," she said. "I feel like the crime was so close to home and the person's not caught."