toronto joker

Police finally catch Toronto's Joker and everyone is trolling them for how long it took

A Toronto area man who managed to evade authorities while serving time for a slate of crimes has finally been apprehended by police after being at large for multiple months — something that the public is finding hilarious due to the perp's extremely distinguishable appearance.

Michael Stamatakos, who has become known as the city's Joker during his many run-ins with the law, is covered in black-and-grey face tattoos themed around the Batman universe that make him impossible to miss in a crowd.

But, officers across multiple forces have somehow still been unable to locate him, even with a much-publicized Canada-wide warrant issued for his capture this fall, marking the second such warrant for the man this year.

Originally wanted for breaching his statutory release back in February, he was arrested in Hamilton in March, only to escape while on release again in October.

The 31-year-old even took to TikTok at the end of the spooky month to mock police for not yet picking him up, posting a video himself smiling in front of a headline about his manhunt while a woman says "you're telling me that this man right here, with every single tattoo on his face, is escaping the authorities?" in the background.

Even after the instigative post and his continued use of social media, the criminal remained on the loose until this Tuesday, when the province's Repeat Offender Parole Enforcement (ROPE) squad announced he was back in custody thanks to the Hamilton Police Service.

Despite the win, residents are wondering how the heck the co-operative search took so long when, as one person said on Reddit, "the guy would stand out at a tattoo convention."

"Wait, it took us almost a calendar quarter to find a guy with a tattoo like that?" one person asked in the same thread about Stamatakos's arrest.

"He even took pictures in front of a Toronto Police Service cruiser and uploaded them to social media," another added, to which yet another wondered "They couldn't verify if the person in the pics was the offender? Jesus Christ — how stupid are TPS?"

To be fair, as others have pointed out, local police don't exactly have tons of time and resources to dedicate to finding each and every person who goes on warrant in the area, of which there are many.

Stamatakos was also wanted again for breach of release, not for anything exceedingly violent; he was in the midst of serving a two-year sentence for arson and damage to property, dangerous operation of a conveyance, flight from peace officer, uttering threats and possession of a Schedule I substance when he fled.

Lead photo by

@torontosjoker/TikTok


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