Police open investigation after Laval man finds GPS tracker on his car

A police investigation is underway after a man in Laval made a surprising discovery on his car after spotting someone in his driveway.

Nick Strilakos said he received a notification on his phone that there was activity in the temporary car shelter (known as a 'tempo') in his driveway in the Chomedey neighbourhood.

He’d installed a surveillance camera in the tempo a few weeks prior, and the footage showed a man placing something inside the wheel well of his car.

“I saw there was somebody was in my tempo at like 5:30 a.m. And I was like, Well, what's going on?” he said.

Strilakos called police, who suggested that he take the car to an auto shop to determine if there had been a GPS tracker placed on it.

“Within 30 seconds, he found the tracker. And I was like, wow, I couldn't believe it,” said Strilakos of the mechanic, who removed the device.

“Really, honestly, I didn't even know what was going on in the beginning,” he said. “I don't know what he was doing. And I'm like, but thank God I had the camera and thank God I was able to get a still of his face. You know, and hopefully they catch him.”

The incident comes as cars are becoming more valuable because of supply chain shortages brought on by the pandemic. Law enforcement agents all over North America have noticed that auto theft rings are operating using GPS trackers, waiting until the car is parked in an isolated area, stealing it, then loading it on a container ship and resold overseas.

Laval police say they have opened an investigation into the attempted auto theft.