‘Public warning’: Police say suspects scouting residential buildings for break-ins using glue-like substance

York Regional Police is issuing a renewed warning to the public after two incidents of suspects scouting units before break and enters at condos.

Police in the Greater Toronto Area have released video footage showing two suspects who they say left glue on apartment unit doors as a means of “scouting” whether the units were occupied prior to break-and-enters.

In a news release issued on Tuesday, York Regional Police said that the unidentified suspects “surreptitiously” gained entrance into residential buildings in Markham and Richmond Hill and then applied the glue-like substance on unit doors throughout the buildings.

“The suspects returned at a later time to examine the condition of the glue to determine if the units were occupied before committing break and enters,” police said in the news release.

Video footage of one of the incidents released by police shows two suspects entering a building while masked on May 16.

One of the suspects appears to struggle with the main door before eventually opening it.

The suspects are then seen taking the stairs to access different floors.

The video later shows images of what appears to be glue affixed to the top corner of one unit door in the building.

Police previously warned the public about a similar technique in February.

At the time, they said that the suspects also “took steps to prevent communal exits from locking properly in order to gain future access to the buildings.”

In the news release on Tuesday, police said that owners and tenants of condominium and apartment buildings “should be aware of this crime technique and report any suspicious persons or activities to police and to their condo management or building superintendent.”