A man and a woman have been arrested and charged after Toronto police say they targeted the same Etobicoke woman in two separate distraction theft incidents. The first one happened on June 14. Police say the two suspects approached the victim outside her residence near Bloor Street West and Islington Avenue at around 10:30 a.m. They then allegedly spoke to her and “demanded” to gift her jewelry. The victim refused to take it, but the suspects continued putting the jewelry on her. The suspects then removed the victim’s jewelry and replaced it with less expensive jewelry, police alleged in a news release. Then, on Wednesday afternoon, the suspects allegedly approached the same victim again and attempted to take more of her jewelry. Investigators say the woman recognized the pair, called the police, who arrested the two suspects nearby. Elena Alexandru, 30, of Toronto, has been charged with robbery, conspiracy to commit an indictable offence, and failure to comply with an undertaking. Ilie Calin, 26, also of Toronto, been charged with robbery and conspiracy to commit an indictable offence. They were both scheduled to appear in court this morning. The charges laid against them have not been tested in court. Police believe there may be more victims and are asking anyone with more information to contact them or Crime Stoppers anonymously. Last week, police arrested two separate suspects in a similar distraction theft investigation in North York.
