Police find vehicle driven through mall in Vaughan but suspects in robbery still at large

Police have recovered a car they say was driven through a mall north of Toronto early Wednesday in a retail robbery they're calling an "audacious crime."

Sgt. Clint Whitney, spokesperson for York Regional Police, said two thieves used the car to smash their way through a glass entrance at Vaughan Mills, near Highway 400 and Rutherford Road, at about 1:10 a.m. Police tweeted surveillance video of the robbers in action.

Whitney said they drove the car through the mall to an electronics store, broke in, took a quantity of electronic devices, then drove through the mall again before smashing their way through a different glass entrance on the other side.

"Fortunately, nobody was harmed," Whitney told reporters outside the mall. "Nonetheless, it's an audacious crime and remarkable."

The car, a stolen 2011 Black Audi A4, was located on Wednesday afternoon and investigators will examine it for evidence, according to police. Its front windshield bore a decal that reads "Ladies on Wheels." The vehicle has a Quebec licence plate: X10 SNP

Police won't say where the car was found.

Crime was 'ridiculous,' 'brazen,' police say

Police were called at 1:30 a.m. but the pair had fled before officers arrived. Officers found significant damage to both mall entrances and the electronics store, Whitney added. Investigators are trying to figure out the value of the electronic devices that were stolen.

"Whether it's ridiculous or it's just brazen, it's unacceptable too," Whitney said.

"People work in this mall. There's going to be cleaners. There's going to be security personnel. We're just fortunate that nobody was hurt, that it's property damage only. Nonetheless, it's significant property damage and it's loss of property. And we take it seriously."

Both suspects were wearing hoods. Whitney said they could face such charges as break and enter, mischief to property, dangerous driving and possession of stolen property.