Peel cops charge 6 in violent armed carjackings probe
· Toronto Sun
Peel Regional Police have charged six people from the GTA with 30 collective offences and recovered two replica firearms and eight vehicles worth $800,000, the latter before they were allegedly destined to be resold or shipped overseas.
The charges, along with the firearm and car recovery, follow Project Stratis, an investigation into four violent, armed carjacking incidents between Jan. 18 and Feb. 1 across Peel Region and the GTA, during which the suspects allegedly appeared to target primarily various models of Mercedes-Benz.
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Officers also determined the accused were allegedly not only carrying out the robberies but also arranging for the stolen vehicles to be re-vinned and resold, or shipped overseas to Ghana.
With the assistance of Toronto Police, Ontario Provincial Police, and the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), officers executed several search warrants, resulting in the recovery of vehicles and the seizure of firearms from storage lockers, an auto body shop, and sea containers.
“I want to give you an example of the violence that we’re encountering,” Peel Regional Police Chief Nishan Duraiappah said during a Monday afternoon news conference. “We’re talking about people leaving grocery stores, maybe coming home from work, maybe recreational, being carjacked by armed individuals. In many cases, these violent offenders are not new to us. One of them I’d like to highlight is an offender named Steve Walsom-Gerigs (who) has a long history of violent offences and convictions of aggravated assault, assault with a weapon and drug trafficking. Even after serving a prison sentence, which (he) completed last year, within a very short time (was) back (allegedly) doing serious, violent crimes.”
Slew of charges
Walsom-Gerigs, 36, of Mount Forest, Ont., faces four counts each of robbery and conspiracy to commit an indictable offence of robbery, two counts each of disguise with intent, and one count each of possession of property obtained by crime and laundering the proceeds of crime.
Walsom-Gerigs previously pleaded guilty in December 2025 to reduced charges of aggravated assault in connection with a 2019 incident involving the kidnapping and death of a Kitchener man in Harriston, Ont.
He and his brother were originally charged with murder and kidnapping but the Crown felt they couldn’t get convictions on those charges.
Rainer Fernando, 37, of Toronto, faces two charges each of robbery and conspiracy to commit an indictable offence of robbery, and one count each of possession of property obtained by crime and laundering the proceeds of crime.
Fernando previously faced charges in 2024 for his alleged involvement in a car theft ring where car sellers would see their property stolen during a test drive or inspection — including a Porsche owner who was run down in Mississauga during once such incident — and before that in 2020 for an armed carjacking, also in Mississauga.
Matthew Hymers, 21, of Listowel, Ont., faces two count of conspiracy to commit an indictable offence of robbery and one count each of robbery possession of property obtained by crime and laundering the proceeds of crime.
Bradley Walsom, 38, of Brampton; and Steven (Gisselle) Lopez, 22 and Samson Igbasan, 20, of Toronto are all charged with one count of possession of property obtained by crime.
Peel Regional Police Det. Jeff Chamula said two of the accused — Fernando and Lopez — were located and arrested at Toronto Pearson International Airport while attempting to board a flight to Ghana.
“Collectively, the accused have significant history involving violence, property crime, vehicle theft, dangerous operation and fail to comply offences,” Peel Regional Police Deputy Chief Nick Milinovich said during Monday’s news conference. “This investigation was into a group of organized criminals who would orchestrate carjackings, drag people out of their vehicles, take their cars, and then organize to have them exported out of our country.”
Compared with the same time last year, auto theft is down 20% while carjackings are down 79% in Peel Region, the deputy chief said.
Still, the chief said there is more work still to be done .
“Many individuals are fearful of leaving their children at home, their families at home,” he said. “And our efforts to find and arrest the individuals that are creating the most harm is of paramount importance to us.”
Anyone with information about this investigation is asked to contact police at 905-453–2121, ext. 1233, or Peel Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or at peelcrimestoppers.ca .