Robert Bradshaw is charged with five others for allegedly reselling cars purchased by a Watford car dealer

Heather Wright/The Independent

The man at the centre of the theft of classic cars from a Watford car dealer is now behind bars.

Robert Bradshaw was arrested Oct. 9 after several warrants were issued for his arrest in the case. He’s being held in custody.

In 2023, Larry Grogan of Watford told Lambton OPP about 160 classic cars which he’d paid for and was expecting delivery of had never arrived. Grogan told police Bradshaw had been finding the vehicles for his new classic car business.

In May, the OPP raided a storage shed near Belleville and found 16 of the cars. They were returned to Grogan.

Police allege Bradshaw, Gary LeBlanc, Michael McCrory and Charlotte Johnston, 53, were forging ownerships to resell the cars. All face charges of theft, fraud, using forged documents and conspiracy in a Belleville court.

Johnston has plead guilty to one count of uttering a forged document and has been sentenced to nine months of house arrest.

Johnston, LeBlanc, McCrory, Bradshaw as well as his uncle, Jack, 77, and Roger Thompson are expected to be back in court Oct. 17.

Robert Bradshaw had missed his last two court appearances after his uncle stepped back from being his surety for bail. That triggered a warrant to be issued for his arrest. When he didn’t appear in court Sept. 18 as ordered, another warrant was issued.

Belleville Crown Attorney Lee Burgess says Bradshaw was taken into custody Oct. 9 and appeared in bail court Oct. 10. He was held in custody.

He’ll return to court Oct. 16 to set a date for a bail hearing. And he’ll appear with his co-accused in court Oct. 17 on the main charges in the case.

After the initial arrests, OPP began seizing cars which Grogan paid for but had been resold to unsuspecting buyers. Dozens of classic car owners have been stripped of their vehicles without compensation. Grogan is now in civil court trying to have those cars placed back into his name, so he can resell them.