The woman charged in connection with a large-scale bike theft investigation is a "sweet and respectful" musician who is very close to her family, according to a colleague.
Jeanie Chung works as an accompanist at The Glenn Gould School where she is known as an accomplished pianist. The 37-year-old woman is romantically involved with Igor Kenk, the owner of a popular bike shop on Queen Street West who is accused of masterminding the largest bike theft operation Toronto has ever seen.
Ed Janus, a colleague of Chung's, said he is shocked by the allegations.
"She's a sweetheart, she's cute, polite, sweet, respectful and very close to her family," he said. "This just doesn't make any sense."
He said he's met her mother several times at some of Chung's performances. Kenk, who has apparently been involved with Chung for "a good number of years" was also often in the crowd, supporting her accomplishments.
Janus said he is most shocked by the drug charges she faces.
Aside from being charged with possession of stolen property, police have also charged Chung with possession of cocaine and marijuana for the purpose of trafficking.
"I've never even seen her smoke a cigarette," Janus said.
Drugs for bikes
In the meantime, police raided three garages in downtown Toronto in the continuing investigation.
Police snapped the lock on garage doors in an alley behind 30 High Park Blvd. early Wednesday morning. Hundreds of bikes and bicycle parts were discovered.
So far, more than 2,000 bikes have been recovered. A big chunk of them have had their valuable parts stripped off and sold.
Police said the large-scale theft ring is one of the biggest they have ever seen.
"I'm not aware of any bicycle seizure in the past 28 years that's as great as this," said Det. Sgt. Ed Roseto.
"I'm astonished, i have never seen anything like this," said police Superintendent Ruth White, who has been on the job for 30 years.
Police told CTV Toronto that the bikes were likely stolen by drug addicts, looking to swap the bicycles for a small quantity of cocaine or marijuana. Authorities also allege that people who were familiar with the shop would go there directly if their bike was stolen and pay the shop between $30 and $50 to get their bicycle back.
Investigators began a probe after receiving a tip from the public.
On Thursday, officers executed search warrants inside a Queen Street bike shop and the Yorkville-area home of its owner. They found hundreds of bicycles, as well as some cocaine and marijuana. Some of the bikes were worth as much as $7,000 and had been missing for years, police said.
On Sunday, police announced they'd found 1,500 more stolen bicycles, and one day later, they recovered 200 more from a location on Dovercourt Avenue.
Summer students working for Toronto police are cataloguing all the bikes.
A local businessman donated a large warehouse to police so that they can be displayed to the public.
Those who are hoping to reclaim a lost bike are being asked to bring identification plus proof of ownership. Police are also urging current cyclists to register their bicycles with the city.
Kenk, 49, and Jean Laveau, 47, have each been charged with theft, attempted theft, possession of stolen property and possession of burglary tools.
Chung will appear in court Friday while Kenk makes a court appearance on Thursday.
With a report from CTV Toronto's Austin Delaney
