Two wrongs ended up making a right.
Police said the theft of a vehicle at a Hamilton daycare last week forced the victim to miss the birth of a child, but also led to the arrest of nearly a dozen youths in a theft investigation.
Hamilton Police said the incident happened after a parent left their Honda CR-V unattended and running on Jan. 14 while retrieving another child at a daycare, giving “opportunistic teens” a chance to steal the vehicle before fleeing in it.
The thieves also ended up with the victim’s personal belongings including a cellphone, which meant they were unable to be contacted by their spouse, who police said had been admitted to a hospital because of medical complications.
“Hours later, with no phone and no transportation, a neighbour was contacted by the hospitalized spouse to locate the victim and attend the hospital immediately,” Hamilton Police said in a news release. “When the victim arrived at the hospital, they discovered their spouse had undergone an emergency surgery and their baby was delivered.
“The victim missed the birth of their child because their vehicle and phone had been stolen.”
Cops, however, located the stolen SUV on Tuesday and found six youths in the vehicle, including two hidden in the trunk. They were all arrested with another youth nabbed at a nearby residence in connection with the investigation.
Police said they were also able to lay charges dating to September in connection with vehicle thefts at recreation centres with 11 youths arrested in total.
“Hamilton Police continue to investigate the involvement of other individuals,” they said.
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A 15-year-old Hamilton boy is charged with offences including vehicle theft, possession of property obtained by crime, theft, fraud and failure to comply with an undertaking, while a 16-year-old Hamilton girl is charged with, among other offences, vehicle theft, theft and occupying a motor vehicle without consent.
Seven other Hamilton youths — two females and five males — were also charged with occupying a motor vehicle without consent.
There was no information on the two other youths facing charges.
Anyone with information about the investigation can contact 905-540-6307 or 905-546-2991. Anonymous information can also be sent to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or crimestoppershamilton.com.