It was an unassuming stop sign that brought down one of the most sophisticated criminals in Toronto’s history, according to Toronto Police Service.

Shane Gagnon, also known as Shane Zwezdaryk, was arrested on Jan. 31 in connection with dozens of unsolved break-ins in the well-heeled neighbourhoods such as Forest Hill and Thornhill.

Gagnon, it is alleged, used highly complex equipment and acrobatic skill to monitor and breach security systems in affluent homes, often climbing houses from the outside and cutting holes in the roof in order to steal luxury items in an investigation Toronto police have dubbed Project Spiderman.

Although the police say that they were monitoring Gagnon as a “person of interest” for some time, it was not until Jan. 31, when the 43–year-old failed to stop at a stop sign on an Etobicoke street and police tried to pull him over and he allegedly refused, that the chase that ensued was enough to give police grounds to search his vehicle and charge him with dangerous driving. In the car, police found a “vast array” of watches and jewellery as well as cash. They also found surveillance equipment, including spy cameras and parabolic listening devices and rope. Gagnon has now been charged in connection with 31 break-ins and police believe he might be connected to “hundreds” more.

Toronto police Det.-Sgt. Savas Kyriacou said the sophisticated crimes investigated as part of Project Spiderman were anomalies among more common break-ins. Usually, he says, break-ins are crimes of opportunity. A person knocks on a door in a rich neighbourhood, receives no answer and, assuming no one is home, finds a way to force their way into the house and takes what they can find. But a string of cases from 2010 to 2014 in Toronto’s most affluent neighbourhoods, including Forest Hill, Rosedale and Thornhill, Kyriacou said, followed a very different pattern.

“These cases involved preparation, and they involved sophisticated equipment,” he said. “Many involved using ropes to climb onto roofs, so the person would have needed to have not only means, but great physical ability.” Because most alarm systems are armed on the ground floor, in these cases entry was often gained through a hole cut in the roof, so a person could enter the attic and then gain entry to the house from there. The person also entered through skylights, balconies and second-floor windows. 

Another unusual aspect of these cases, Kyriacou said, was the quality of the material that was being stolen. “This guy knew jewellery better than some jewellers,” he said. “He only took very expensive items, the best jewellery and watches, and the usual break-and-enter items, like laptops, were all left behind.” After Gagnon’s arrest, search warrants for properties around the GTA found millions of dollars’ worth of items he is suspected to have stolen between 2010 and 2014.

A Facebook page set up by Toronto Police Service contains more than 500 photos of recovered rings and necklaces, collector coins, Rolex and Cartier wristwatches, precious gemstones, an antique pocket watch and a large cut diamond. The items are thought to be just a fraction of what Gagnon is accused of stealing.

This is not the first time that Gagnon has been arrested in connection to an elaborate crime. In 2000, the Bradford native, who was known at the time as Shane Zwezdaryk, was involved in a botched burglary at M. Lash Enterprises, a Richmond Hill jewellery store. 

According to court records, after staking out the heavily protected store for months, Gagnon enlisted the help of two men to help him rob the store. Although the details surrounding what happened are unclear, the records state that the store owner, Mark Lash, and his part-time store clerk, Niv Erez, were alerted to the robbery, and gunshots were fired. Lash was shot once and survived, but Erez, 23, was killed after being shot four times. Gagnon and his confederates fled the scene but were apprehended by York Regional Police months later. After agreeing to testify against the co-accused, Gagnon’s first degree murder charge was reduced, and he served three and a half years in prison for manslaughter. He was released in 2005.

After his release from prison, Gagnon met the woman who would become his common-law wife, and he became a father of two. According to various social media sites, Gagnon was also trying to launch a career as an arm wrestler, MMA fighter and inventor.

Kyriacou said that Toronto Police Service has been investigating Gagnon for some time, based on his history of elaborate crime in York Region, but had no reason to charge him in connection with break-ins until he was charged with dangerous driving. Gagnon is currently under house arrest and awaiting trial.

But even with Gagnon in custody, Ross MacLean, a crime and security specialist, said that Torontonians should not let their guard down with regards to break-ins in their neighbourhoods.  Although Gagnon may have been a highly sophisticated criminal, it is not always difficult for would-be thieves to bypass so many security systems and target extremely valuable items.

“What this guy did was likely the same as what many criminals do,” MacLean said. “He looked for the good postal codes, looked to see who was home, and then he did a case job.”

“Even the dumb criminals know to go to the dressers for ladies’ jewellery, then go to the closets and look in the hat boxes, which is where most people hide their valuables,” he said. “We all do this, but people who own items worth tens of thousands of dollars need to invest more in security.”

MacLean suggests that those with valuable property could avoid becoming a target by installing alarm systems on their second floors or even on the ceilings, invest more in safes and find better hiding places for their valuables. “All you have to do is be a tiny bit less secure than the other houses in your neighbourhood, and you’ll be a target.” 

Photos of stolen property obtained by police can be viewed at tps.to/spiderman.