**** Via CBRP
Cape Breton Regional Police have charged 4 people with a combined total of 220 criminal offences following a 16-month extensive investigation led by the Street Crime Unit, into an organized criminal operation based in the CBRM involving the possession, trafficking, dismantling and resale of more than $10M in stolen motor vehicles and related property across several Canadian provinces and with international connections.
In July 2025, CBRPS was asked to assist the Criminal Intelligence Service of Nova Scotia and Equite Association in locating a stolen vehicle which had been tracked to a property in Florence, Nova Scotia.
There, police discovered several additional vehicles confirmed as stolen, leading to search warrants at 5 connected properties – 2 residences in Little Pond, a decommissioned school in Florence, and the business properties at Bill Young’s Auto Salvage and Bill Young’s Auto Body – where they located a large collection of stolen motor vehicles, motor vehicle parts, commercial equipment, machinery and illegal firearms.
The investigation determined that vehicles were being acquired from Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Manitoba, and then being altered through the replacement or manipulation of vehicle identification numbers for resale, or dismantled for their components to be sold through an online retailer.
Charged are: Sandy Joseph Young (47, Little Pond), Jesse William Young (22, Little Pond), Jason John McDonald (42, Stouffville ON) and Melissa McDonald-Gray (41, Stouffville, ON), with a range of criminal offences including Participating in Activities of a Criminal Organization, Laundering Proceeds of Crime, Possession and Trafficking Property Obtained by Crime and Tampering with a Vehicle Identification Number.
