“How can I survive?” he said. “The police are pushing us to do something wrong.”

With the Talhan truck theft occurring on a Friday night, Peel police Const. Bancroft Wright said calls involving violent crime in the region likely took priority over stolen property.

He also said police advise residents not to approach and attempt to recover stolen property on their own, because it could disrupt the process of collecting forensic evidence and potentially endanger public safety.

“I understand the frustration from their point,” Wright said. “But how would it look if we were to give them permission to stop the vehicle and somewhere in that fracas one of them gets hurt – or worse, seriously injured or dead?”

Former Peel police officer Mike Proska, who is now a private investigator specializing in cargo theft, said thieves robbing the trucking industry in Peel are typically well-organized and use trucks and trailers to quickly move stolen goods, “like the Fed Ex of bad guys.”

He said the number of trucks and trailers in Mississauga and Brampton make it “a target-rich environment.”

In an email, Wright said that as of Feb. 13, 2020, no arrests have been made in relation to Chadde's stolen truck and the investigation was ongoing.

STORY BEHIND THE STORY: Trucking company owner Mohinder Chadde called our newsroom in frustration after police told him not to get involved when he spotted his own stolen truck, even though police were unable to answer the call themselves that evening. We wanted to know why police had told him that, how often these thefts happens in Peel, and what the loss means to a small business owner like Chadde.