Northern Ont. car dealership stunned by 'bold' theft of a $60K truck in broad daylight

Michael Tremblay, owner of Tremblay Chevrolet Buick GMC in Sturgeon Falls, has been puzzled over what his team could have done differently to prevent the theft of one of their vehicles. 

"A gentleman came in Monday morning, dressed in workwear like your everyday average Joe," he said. 

"He told us he totaled his truck two weeks ago, got an insurance settlement and wanted to try out one of our trucks." 

The company then followed the usual procedure, taking down the potential client's phone number, identification papers, and place of residence before giving him the keys to one of the trucks.

"He never came back," said Tremblay. "It's very bold."

The number and address given turned out to be fake. 

Provincial police later confirmed the driver's licence given to the dealership as part of that initial paperwork was reported stolen in the Toronto area last year.

"The nonchalance of this guy coming in like nothing is astonishing," said Tremblay, adding that he walked right by multiple security cameras. "We got the whole thing on video." 

He adds that the truck was worth $60,000, and that it's ultimately just a piece of metal. 

He wouldn't have wanted one of his employees to accompany the potential customer on the test drive if the suspect had bad intentions to begin with. 

"It's just the paperwork we have to do now," he said. "We'll be OK. But this whole thing will start making us question honest people as well." 

The missing truck is described as a white, 2020 GMC Sierra 2500 Denali crew cab pickup truck with a black cover on the grill. It was last seen heading towards North Bay.

Police are asking anyone with information or help to call the OPP in West Nipissing.

Auto thefts have been making headlines for months in Canada, with Interpol saying the country is among the top 10 worst countries when it comes to stolen vehicles.