Ex-Salvation Army executive charged in $2M toy heist
David Rennie faces theft, possession of property obtained by crime and criminal breach of trust charges
CBC News
Posted: Nov 26, 2012 11:51 AM ET
Last Updated: Nov 26, 2012 6:21 PM ET
The Salvation Army says several million dollars worth of toys and other items were taken from this Railside Road food and toy distribution centre in Toronto. (Chris Young/Canadian Press)
A former executive with the Toronto Salvation Army has been arrested and charged in connection with the theft of $2 million worth of toys from the organization.
Police said David Rennie has been charged with theft, possession of property obtained by crime and criminal breach of trust.
A huge cache of toys was discovered Friday in a warehouse in Brampton, northwest of Toronto. A second warehouse was raided Saturday night in Toronto, where more Salvation Army merchandise was discovered.
The warehouse is controlled by Northern Sales Group, police said at a Monday afternoon news conference. A second suspect connected with Northern Sales Group is being sought, police added.
Police said three tractor-trailers were used to move the goods to a different facility where police are taking inventory. The Salvation Army said the toys went missing over the course of two years.
Rennie surrendered to police and was questioned before he was arrested and charged. He will make his first court appearance on Jan. 4.
Rennie, who was executive director of the Salvation Army warehouse where the missing toys had been stored, was fired a week ago.
Two bicycles donated by Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty were among the items that have been recovered so far. The bikes were supposed to go to Salvation Army camps last summer.
Police have said they'll return all the goods once they've finished taking inventory.
"We will do everything in our power to ensure that something like this never happens again," Salvation Army Maj. John Murray said.
With files from The Canadian PressShare Tools
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