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Meth bust: $40-million seizure one of the largest in Ontario history

In one of the largest drug busts in Ontario history, police have seized millions of dollars of methamphetamine and uncovered a complex drug manufacturing operation that snaked through Southern Ontario.

In late July, police officers executed seven warrants in the GTA and two in Northumberland County, seizing over 120 kilograms of pure methamphetamine, 14 kilograms of meth powder, 110,483 meth pills, 3,400 kilograms of chemicals and $81,000 in cash. Police estimate that the drugs have a street value of around $40 million.

Five people were charged with various drug crimes. At a press conference in Vaughan on Thursday, police described a complex criminal enterprise that operated through Southern Ontario.

The chemicals necessary for making methamphetamine were kept in a storage locker in Markham. They were then transported to a lab in Warkworth, which police have called one of the largest meth labs ever discovered in Ontario.

Once the raw methamphetamine was manufactured, police said, it was taken to two labs, one in Campbellford and one in Aurora, and pressed into pills for distribution. Police found bear traps shrouded in leaves guarding the Campbellford lab.

The enormity of the operation has led police to believe that the drugs were intended for international markets. “When you have this big a volume of drugs, this isn’t that big a market,” said OPP Chief Supt. Mike Armstrong.

Two Aurora men, aged 45 and 49, have been charged with possession and production of a controlled substance. A 28-year-old from Markham is accused of possession of items used in meth production and two Campbellford men, 39 and 55, are charged with trafficking in a controlled substance and setting a booby trap.

Armstrong criticized Canada’s lax laws regarding the chemicals required to make meth. “The chemicals and materials themselves are not necessarily illegal to import,” he said, adding that international police forces “are very concerned by the large scale labs here in Canada.”

The investigation was led by the OPP’s Asian Organized Crime Taskforce, which worked with Toronto, York and Peel police, the RCMP, the Canada Border Services Agency and the Ontario environment ministry.

Meth bust: $40-million seizure one of the largest in Ontario history

Five people were charged with various drug crimes. At a press conference in Vaughan on Thursday, police described a complex criminal enterprise that operated through Southern Ontario.

http://www.thestar.com/news/crime/2013/09/05/40million_meth_bust_one_of_the_largest_in_ontario_history.html

Visiting hours cancelled at another Toronto jail

A month before Nicole Fedoriuk’s friend was set to show up for his first trial date, she went out and bought him a suit so that he would look his best in front of the judge. But when the court date came around, he showed up in the clothes that he was arrested in — jeans and a ripped sweater.

Fedoriuk’s friend has been awaiting trial in the Toronto East Dentention Centre in Scarborough since March. And Toronto East, like many jails around the GTA, has been cancelling visiting hours due to staff shortages. This has led to family, friends and lawyers being turned away and sometimes even inmates not being able to get new clothing for court.

“To make them go to court without their clothes, you’re sticking out like a sore thumb,” said Fedoriuk.

Fedoriuk said that her friend put in three requests for a clothing exchange, but only got a reply after his court date.

Stephen Taft, whose 34-year-old son has been awaiting a bail hearing, told the Star last week that his son had been forced to wear the same clothes for two weeks in a row because visiting hours at the Toronto West Detention Centre in Etobicoke had been cancelled so often. Staff wouldn’t allow him to drop off the clothes outside of the visiting hours.

Inmates that don’t have access to clothing exchanges because of cancelled visiting hours have two options: institutional clothing or the clothes they were arrested in.

As for the cancellation of visiting hours, Brent Ross, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services, said that they “can happen for a number of reasons including vacations, sick leave and escorting inmates to hospital and can occur at any time of the year.”

Fedoriuk said that although there were some cancellations in March and April, they’ve intensified during the summer.

“It’s to the point that before I even leave my house, I make sure I call.”

According to numbers provided by the ministry however, Toronto East has only cancelled visiting hours twice since May 1.

But Fedoriuk says that in the past two weeks alone, she knows of three cancellations, and said that most of the Sundays in June were also cancelled.

The ministry says that since May 1, Toronto West has cancelled visiting hours 18 times, Maplehurst Correctional Complex has done it 11 times and the Toronto Jail eight times. Toronto East and the Vanier Centre for Women have each cancelled visits twice, while the Ontario Correctional Institute has not had any cancellations.

Fedoriuk said that although she’s upset, it’s the inmates that end up suffering the most.

“They’re outraged. They feel like no one’s been listening to them.”

Co-written with Sahar Fatima

(Photo courtesy of andreakw/Flickr Creative Commons)

Man killed in Burger King takedown shot himself in the head: SIU

Zoltan Hyacinth, a man who had been shot at by a Toronto police officer five years before his death, accidentally killed himself in a confrontation with police, according to an SIU investigation.

The 23-year-old was killed on March 17 while police were trying to arrest him at a Burger King drive-through near Keele St. and Wilson Ave.

According to the SIU, an officer had him pinned down on the ground, when Hyacinth reached for his gun and fired three bullets, accidentally shooting himself in the head. All police involved have been cleared in his death.

It was not Hyacinth’s first brush with the law; in October 2007, he narrowly avoided being shot by a cop when he was involved in a struggle with two Toronto police officers. He launched a civil lawsuit in connection with the incident, which was later settled out of court.

This time police had been investigating Hyacinth in connection with a violent robbery when they confronted him at the Burger King. A dozen plainclothes officers surrounded his Pontiac Sunfire, boxed him in with police vehicles, and told him he was under arrest. A woman in the passenger seat was removed by police, but Hyacinth allegedly refused to leave the car. According to the SIU report, he even tried to hit the gas pedal to push a police cruiser out of the way.

Two officers tried to pull him out of the car, with one of them eventually forcing Hyacinth onto the ground in a bear hug with his back to the officer’s chest. According to the SIU, that is when Hyacinth pulled out his gun and fired three shots, one of them into the right side of his own head. He was taken to Sunnybrook hospital and declared dead.

“I am of the view that the police actions in this incident cannot attract any criminal liability — Mr. Hyacinth was the inadvertent author of his own misfortune,” wrote SIU director Ian Scott.

For the investigation, the SIU relied on interviews with civilians and officers, as well as footage from the Burger King’s security camera and an autopsy.

The Special Investigations Unit, the province’s third-party investigator, is called whenever police are involved in incidents that lead to a serious injury or death or when officers are accused of sexual assault.

(Photo by David Cooper/Toronto Star)

Toronto swimmer’s bid to be oldest woman to cross Lake Ontario dashed by weather

Kim Lumsdon’s attempt at regaining her title of oldest woman to swim across Lake Ontario was dashed Saturday afternoon by bad weather.

Port authorities fetched Lumsdon, 56, and her support team of 20 about 10 kilometres short of Toronto around 4 p.m. She was just a few hours away from reaching shore and declaring victory when visibility became significantly poor due to rain and choppy waves.

“We were told she’s fine,” said Silvia Brunetta, a member of Lumsdon’s land crew.

Lumsdon, who set off from Niagara-on-the-Lake around 8:45 p.m. Friday accompanied by two sailboats and two whalers, was expected to reach Marilyn Bell Park in Toronto within 24 hours. The full length of the swim is 51 km.

Brunetta said Lumsdon had earlier told her team this was the final time she would try to win back her title.

“Who knows how she’s feeling at this point,” she said. “If she does say yes (to trying again), she’ll have plenty of support.”

Lumsdon became the oldest woman to make it across the lake at the age of 49 in 2006. But three days later, Colleen Shields, 54, took away that distinction.

The first time Lumsdon swam across Lake Ontario, she was 19. Daughter of renowned long-distance swimmer Cliff Lumsdon, Kim completed the gruelling trek in 21 hours and 27 minutes.

On Saturday, Lumsdon was following the same path Marilyn Bell did in 1954. Had she made it, she would not only have once again become the oldest woman to swim across Lake Ontario, she would also have been the first person to swim the Marilyn Bell path, known for its high winds and ripping currents, three times.

“They were definitely on course, and her pace was consistent,” said Brunetta. “She was in good spirits…We were really happy with how well she was doing.”

The cancellation of Lumsdon’s swim follows a similar decision made hours earlier by a five-woman relay team, including Shields, who had been attempting an unprecedented swim across Lake Ontario.

Shields told the Star that it would be her last swim across the lake.

Cowritten with Jacques Gallant

With files from Amy Dempsey

(Photo by Carlos Osorio/Toronto Star)

Grandmother charged in death of Milton toddler left in hot car

The maternal grandmother of a Milton toddler who died after being left in a car in the sweltering heat has been charged with criminal negligence and failing to provide the necessities of life.

Maximus Huyskens, who was a month away from turning two-years-old, died on June 26 of heat exposure after being left in a small sedan while temperatures both outside and inside the car soared.

Leslie McDonald, 51, was arrested and charged by homicide detectives and will appear in court on Aug. 14.

Huyskens died in his grandmother’s care while his father was at work and his mother was at an appointment, according to Halton police. On the day he died, temperatures reached a peak of 29C.

In an obituary published in the Star, Huyskens parents wrote that he was “a boy who loved to talk about birds in the sky and whales in the water … [and] a boy who would always pick a flower for his parents whenever he saw one.”

Hundreds attended his funeral on Wednesday a fundraising effort for the family has raised over $4,000.

(Photo Submitted)

Man arrested after car chase that injures 3 in Burlington

A Burlington man is under arrest after a police chase Monday that left two bystanders and one police officer with minor injuries.

Police allege that the man ran a number of red lights, hit two cars and drove right at a cop during the chase.

Halton Police say that around 8:30 p.m. two men got into an altercation, with one threatening the other with a weapon and then driving away.

Shortly after, two police officers came across the man who uttered the threat and he sped off, running a red light. The cops chased after him and police allege that during the pursuit, he drove right at a patrol supervisor who had get out of the way to avoid being slammed head-on.

The chase ended when the pursued man’s car collided with two other vehicles while attempting to run through another red light at Brant St. and Plains Rd. E., say police.

The man then fled the car, trying to get away on foot, but was caught by officers seconds later, one of whom suffered a minor injury during the chase.

A 48-year-old woman and her 11-year-old son were hurt in the crash and taken to hospital. They were treated for minor injuries and released.

Joshua Farray, 22, is charged with fleeing from police, dangerous driving, breach of probation and a number of other charges.

(Photo courtesy of William Mewes/Flickr Creative Commons)

Homicide officers investigating shooting death in Willowdale

Toronto police’s homicide squad is investigating after a man in his 20s was found shot dead in a Willowdale apartment early Sunday morning.

At around 2:45 a.m., a woman called 911 and summoned officers to a condo building at 35 Empress Ave., in the area of Yonge St. and Sheppard Ave.. The man was found dead inside.

Police cars remained outside the Empress Plaza condo tower on the corner of Empress and Doris Ave. Sunday afternoon, and crime scene tape was strung up outside the building in several areas.

A car parked on Doris Ave. in front of a fire hydrant was sealed by police. It had been fingerprinted, with several areas circled in yellow on the windows. A notice that it was illegally parked was tucked under the windshield wiper.

A police tow truck arrived shortly before 2 p.m. and towed the dark blue car away.

Det. Scott Purches said the vehicle is part of the investigation and could offer scant details on the incident, given the ongoing probe.

“I can’t get into details about what kind of gunshot wound or anything like that,” said Purches.

Homicide detectives are assisting with the investigation, though Purches stopped short of calling it a homicide at this time. He said police are still looking for witnesses.

“Most importantly, the 911 caller who phoned this in to police, we’d very much like that person make themselves known to us so we can ask a few more questions about what happened,” said Purches.

“It seemed to be a bit of a charged environment that that call was made and we’re just looking to ask some followup questions,” he said.

The Willowdale neighbourhood is a mix of highrises and single-family homes that area residents said is usually quiet.

Dorothy Hopkinson said she’s lived in the building at 35 Empress Ave. for seven years and never had any problems before.

“It’s very quiet. The people in the building are very friendly. Everyone gets along,” said Hopkinson. “I just can’t believe it.”

Police aren’t releasing the man’s name until they notify his family.

Co-written with Jessica McDiarmid

(Photo by Jessica McDiarmid/Toronto Star)

Toronto police chase ends with crashed van, two arrests

A high-speed police chase ended with a minivan knocking down a hydro pole, hitting a parked car and crashing into a parking meter early Saturday morning.

The chase began on Hwy. 401 shortly after 1 a.m. where the OPP were conducting RIDE spot checks. The driver of the minivan made a U-turn ahead of time to avoid the check. Officers pursued the van, where the driver took the Avenue Rd. exit onto Wilson Ave., and crashed a few blocks away just west of Bathurst St.

Two men ran away from the scene, but Toronto Police, who were in the area for an unrelated matter, were able to apprehend them. They were then arrested by the OPP and taken to hospital with minor injuries.

During the chase, the minivan hit a hydro pole, knocking it down and cutting power in the area temporarily.

The investigation is ongoing and charges are pending.

Co-written with Kim Magi

(Photo by Victor Biro/Toronto Star)

Dustin Dagenais, one of the paramedics killed in ORNGE helicopter crash

Dustin Dagenais, one of the paramedics killed in Friday’s ORNGE helicopter crash, grew up in the largely francophone town of Kapuskasing.

When he was a teenager, Dagenais played hockey for the Collingwood Blues, a now defunct Ontario Junior Hockey Team based out of Simcoe County.

Tim Dickey, his coach on the Blues, described him as a “towering guy” and a go-to defenceman for the team.

“He was hardnosed and stuck up for his teammates. If you wanted to take a shot at somebody, Dustin was always there to back you up,” he said.

But Dickey also remembers him as someone who would help lighten the mood in the locker room.

“He’s a good kid, but he was a character,” said Dickey. “He had a really good sense of humor. His teammates all thought highly of him.”

That’s a side of Dagenais that Jessica Côté, a friend of his, also recalls fondly.

“What I’m going to be left with is the fact that he is the funniest guy that anyone has ever met. He was the life of the party,” she said.

“He loved life and would light up any room he walked into”

Côté said that everyone she knew called him “Dagger” and that Dagenais was also a skilled baseball player.

After a year with the Blues, Dagenais jumped up to the OHL, playing 20 games for the Belleville Bulls. After that, he jumped around between a few teams, including two more years with the Collingwood Blues.

It was in 2007 that Dagenais began working as a paramedic for the James Bay Ambulance Service. He worked out of Moosonee and Attawapiskat and, according to ORNGE CEO Andrew McCallum, Dagenais become well known throughout the James Bay area.

In 2011, he joined ORNGE as a primary care paramedic.

Dagenais, 34, is survived by his wife and an infant daughter in Moose Factory, Ont.

“He had a heart of gold and loved his wife and new daughter,” said Côté.

Co-written with Sean Tepper

(Photo courtesy of hdevalence/Flickr Creative Commons)

Scarborough man shot dead in his backyard

A Scarborough man is dead after being shot in his backyard in a quiet Scarborough neighbourhood.

Surenthira Vaithilingam, 37, was killed while doing landscaping in backyard in what police are calling a “targeted shooting.” Emergency services pronounced him dead at the scene.

The shooting occurred around 3 p.m. in Morningside Heights on Mantis Rd.

Police believe that three men approached 17 Mantis Rd., went into the backyard, shot Vaithilingam and then ran on foot to a getaway car parked a block away.

“It’s very terrible, it’s scary to us,” said one of Vaithilingam’s neighbours, who comes from the same northern-Sri Lankan village that Vaithilingam was from.

“We’re all very hard working, so to see this happen, for people to come to into our community and do this, we don’t want it.”

Neighbours said that Vaithilingam, his wife and their 4-year-old son had moved to the house less than a year ago.

Gnana Puvanandran, who lives near the crime scene, said she was picking her daughter up from school when the shooting happened. She said that the homicide has shaken her.

“Today I’m scared,” she said.

Three men are wanted in connection with the shooting.

Police describe the first man as black, between 5-foot-4 and 5-foot-6, with a dark complexion, a ponytail and a Jamaican accent. He was last seen wearing dark clothing.

The second man is black, 5-foot-4, with a dark complexion and also last seen wearing dark clothing.

The third suspect, who police believe was the driver of the getaway vehicle, is described as brown-skinned, with a light complexion and straight hair. Police say he was last seen wearing dark clothes with dark slacks.

Police are also on the lookout for a four-door vehicle with faded blue paint.

Police were searching the scene Thursday night and had taped off a very large area that included most of Mantis Rd. and a block of Bobolink Ave. Officers were scouring lawns, front yards, and grates searching for evidence.

Co-written with Andrew Livingstone

(Photo by Vince Talotta/Toronto Star)

Man leaps out of moving Sunwing plane at Pearson airport

As a plane was taxiing on the tarmac at Pearson airport, a woman screamed that the emergency door was open — and then a man jumped out.

Sunwing flight WG383 from Varadero, Cuba had just landed early Monday morning when the man decided to “make an early exit,” according to an announcement made by a flight attendant in a passenger video from the incident.

“He just opened the door and jumped out,” Const. Fiona Thivierge of Peel Regional Police said. “Only he can explain why he did that.”

The man apparently wasn’t hurt when he hurled himself out the emergency exit, landing on the tarmac.

“My understanding is that he had not shown any bizarre behaviour on the way in,” Thivierge said.

He was calmed down by workers on the tarmac until police arrived, she said.

“They did a fantastic job maintaining control of the individual and deescalating the situation until we arrived,” Thivierge added.

Ian Sansom, a passenger on the flight, said that after the man jumped, a flight attendant ran to the front of the plane and pressed a button. Passengers didn't hear an alarm go off and the plane continued to roll down the tarmac for another 30 to 45 seconds before it stopped, he said. A flight attendant told everyone to remain seated.

Passengers were kept waiting on the tarmac for around an hour. At one point, a flight attendant made an announcement asking that anyone “travelling with the individual that chose to make an early exit, would you come identify yourself to one of the crew members." At least one person came forward.

The man, who is 32 and from Toronto, was handcuffed by police and taken to a hospital. He was arrested under the Mental Health Act.

A similar incident happened Monday after witnesses said a passenger on an Alaska Airlines flight tried to open an emergency exit as the plane was about to land in Portland, Oregon.

Passengers helped restrain the man using seat-belt extensions and three sets of shoelaces, which were used to bind the passenger’s legs.

Co-written with Peter Edwards

With files from The Associated Press

(Photo courtesy of carrib/Flickr Creative Commons)

Three charged after alleged gang-sexual assault in downtown Toronto parking garage

Three men have been charged after a woman was allegedly subjected to a gang sexual assault in a downtown Toronto parking garage.

According to Toronto Police, the 22-year old victim was leaving a night club near Richmond St. and Spadina Ave. on Saturday, when she accepted a ride offer from a man she had spoken to earlier that night.

The man, along with two others, allegedly took her to an underground parking garage near Blue Jays Way and Windsor St.

Police allege that the woman was then trapped inside an SUV and two of the men sexually assaulted her.

The woman was rescued when police, who had been called by the victim’s friends who were worried about her safety, found her in the parking lot and arrested three men.

Hewad Ahmadzai, 26, Omeed Ahmadzai, 24, and Nazeef Ahmadzai, 30, have all been charged with forcible confinement and gang sexual assault, while the latter two have also been charged with sexual assault.

Police believe there may have been other victims and are asking anyone with information to call police at 416-808-7474 or leave a tip with Crime Stoppers 416-222-8477.

(Photo courtesy of Toronto Police Service)

Ancient water may give clues to life's origins

Two and a half kilometres below northeastern Ontario, within the volcanic rock of the Canadian Shield, a primordial waterway has sat undisturbed for more than a billion years. But now a team of Canadian and British scientists have tapped this ancient liquid, hoping to discover clues about the origins of life on our planet — and beyond.

In a paper published in the journal Nature on Wednesday, researchers say water they have found in a copper and zinc mine near Timmins, Ont., has been isolated for one to 2.64 billion years, far longer than anything previously discovered. And the water contains high levels of methane and hydrogen, possible indicators of life.

"These are the oldest waters that have ever been identified, " Barbara Sherwood Lollar, a geoscientist at the University of Toronto and one of the study's authors, told The Canadian Press. "We don't know yet if there's life in this, but what we've been able to show is it is habitable, meaning (it has) potential to support life because of the energy that's there."

The team painstakingly extracted the water through cracks in sulphide deposits, ensuring that it was never contaminated by contacting air in the mine. And by examining the levels of certain isotopes of noble gases — elements that rarely interact with their surroundings — they determined the water hadn't been exposed to the atmosphere for at least a billion years.

It could also have profound implications for the search for extraterrestrial life.

"Much of the Mars crust is similar to our ancient (Canadian Shield). It's also billions of years old crystalline rock," with a similar geography to the Timmins site, she said. "It's reasonable to think that same process could be going on today in the depths of Mars."

Rosie Redfield, a University of British Columbia microbiologist, said that if life is found within the water, it would almost certainly be part of the same "family" as all other life on Earth, and wouldn't have developed independently.

"If there is life in there, it almost certainly shares common ancestry with us, " she said. "And so almost certainly it's not going to be ‘alien' life. But it's the kind of strange and alien that's exciting to certain kinds of microbiologists."

With files from The Canadian Press

(Photo courtesy of Barbara Sherwood Lollar)

Tim Bosma's widow makes tearful statement about ‘most horrifying day of my life’

Choking back tears, Sharlene Bosma said learning the news of her husband’s gruesome death was “the most horrifying day of my life.”

“People tell me that I have been so strong but all I know is that I have a beautiful 2-year old girl at home who now needs her mommy more than ever and needs her mommy to hold it together,” Sharlene Bosma said Wednesday afternoon, in her first public statement since learning of husband Tim Bosma’s death.

“So I know that I cannot fall apart, but I am broken. Because part of me is gone.”

Speaking at the Ancaster Christian Reformed Church she attended with her family, Sharlene Bosma thanked the Hamilton Police Services who searched for her husband.

“This was not our desired outcome, but I am still grateful to the police for finding him.”

She also thanked the media for keeping her husband’s disappearance a top news story and the public for their assistance and support.

“Your social media postings, your hours spent volunteering, your food, the flowers, your cards and your prayers. These mean volumes to us.”

Sharlene and Tim Bosma had been married for just over two years before he went missing from his Ancaster home on May 6.

While recognizing that “this will never really be over for us,” Sharlene Bosma pledged that her daughter will always know that her father adored her.

“His daughter will grow up knowing how much he loved her. And how he would sometimes watch her sleep or chase her through the house to tickle,” she said.

“Tim will always be loved and he will always be remembered.

“And I love you Tim.”

A trust account has been set up in the family’s name. Donations can be made at any TD Canada Trust location to account 6332096, branch 2047.

(Photo by Dave Chidley/Canadian Press)

Peel police called into lunch-hour protest at Mississauga Catholic school

Lockers were banged, garbage cans thrown and the cops were called in — all because of a change to the lunchtime at one Mississauga school.

Peel police were called to Ascension of Our Lord Catholic Secondary on Friday afternoon after students staged a walkout to protest changes to their lunch hour.

The school had recently announced it would be changing the one-hour lunch period into two 40-minute periods which different grades would take at different times.

Many students argue the change not only reduces their lunch by a third, but that it hurts working students who can’t stay after class for academic help or extracurriculars.

At least 100 students protested outside the school with some carrying signs emblazoned with “#keepcommonlunch.” But as it began to rain, the students went back inside and some ran through the halls banging on lockers and throwing potted plants and garbage cans.

“Some of the kids were in the hallways and screaming out, ‘Keep common lunch,’ ” said student Samantha Thompson. “But some of the kids got too silly.”

Peel police confirmed they had been called to the scene but would not say how many officers were dispatched.

One student claimed to see five cars, while another said she saw seven.

A number of students were suspended after the protest, but the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board declined to say how many.

The lunch changes are purely a safety issue as only a handful of staff supervise 800 students during lunch hour, said Paul McMorrow, supervisor for the Brampton East-Caledon-Dufferin-Malton family of schools.

“If we can reduce the number of students during any given time that require supervision that’s a positive thing,” he said. “We don’t want to wait till something happens to take these proactive steps.”

Many students are upset because they use the lunch hour for academic help or to participate in extracurriculars. But if classes take place during that time, those facilities will be in use.

“The art room is open for ceramic, you can go play basketball, because no classes are taking up that space,” said Grade 11 student Jessica Serrao.

She said many students must work after school and so can’t stay behind for tutoring or extracurriculars.

“We’re not a rich community,” she said. “There are kids in my school that have to work two jobs to put food on the table.”

The school board said the change has been in the works for a while and that the school consulted numerous stakeholders, including the school safety committee, the Peel police neighbourhood policing unit and the school council.

McMorrow said they had not received any calls from parents on the issue. However, Serrao said her parents called the school early last week and she claimed to know numerous other parents who had done the same.

Serrao said students intend to continue protesting the changes.

With files from Kim Magi and Andrew Nguyen

(Photo courtesy of Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board)

Increased police presence downtown for Game 7

As thousands of people watch the Leafs on the big screens in Maple Leaf Square, the cops will be watching the crowds.

Toronto police have confirmed they have an increased police presence downtown Monday evening, but declined to comment on specific numbers or how officers are being deployed.

During the Leafs’ first-round series against the Boston Bruins, thousands of Torontonians have consistently packed the city’s downtown core, largely without incident.

On Monday evening, CBC’s Don Cherry praised Toronto fans for their restraint, while slyly taking a shot at Vancouverites for the riot that followed the Canucks’ 2011 Stanley Cup loss to the Boston Bruins.

“There’s 20,000 people outside this building there,” said Cherry. “They don’t wreck things, they’re good Canadian hockey fans and they don’t wreck things, they love hockey and that’s the way it should be.”

(Photo by Vince Talotta/Toronto Star)

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