Charges have been laid against five people after police stopped a vehicle known to have been used to steal scrap metal from a Woodstock company.

Woodstock police stopped the white van on Juliana Drive around 9:20 p.m. on Friday.

The van had reportedly been used a number of times to steal scrap metal from Cornell Welding and Fabricating in Woodstock.

Owner Jerry Cornell says the company has had scrap like aluminum and stainless steel worth thousands of dollars stolen at least a dozen times.

Security video provided by the company from August shows a white van in the lot, with a group of suspects loading it with metal.

“So I checked my videos and lo and behold at 9:01the van pulls into the parking lot across, uh, behind us, and the fellows come in and were scoping out my scrap again,” Cornell says.

Investigators say they are now looking into whether the men and/or the vehicle could be tied to incidents in other jurisdictions.

Woodstock Police Const. Steve McEwen says “We always check for that with any kind of crime like this it could always be far-reaching.

The five men, all from Toronto, are already facing a variety of charges:

  • Gustavo Glonczi, 29 – possession of break-in instruments
  • Csaba Lajho, 23, and Jozsef Lakatos, 19 – possession of break-in instruments, two counts of breaching bail conditions
  • Jozsef Russzo, 39 – two counts of theft under $5,000, possession of break-in instruments, driving without a licence, driving without insurance
  • Ferenc Stefan, 36 – theft under $5,000, possession of break-in instruments, public mischief, breach of probation

Glonczi was released on bail while the four others are being held in custody.