In your neighbourhood

Three teen girls walking in the Yonge Street and Aspenwood Drive area in Newmarket on Canada Day were accosted by a stranger with a weapon, reported to be a large machete. They did the right thing in calling 9-1-1 immediately. When officers responded to the weapons call, the girls told them the man had asked them if they wanted to die.

They were visibly upset but officers were able to calm them before they fanned out in search of the suspect, who was located near Green Lane. Working as a team, officers quickly devised a plan to take the suspect into custody safely. A five-inch knife and sheath were located in his waistband upon arrest and officers also seized a quantity of methamphetamine.

The successful apprehension of this suspect demonstrated the officers’ courage and professionalism during a dynamic incident.

A 38-year-old man, of no fixed address, faces numerous charges, including Assault with a Weapon, Carrying a Concealed Weapon, Utter Threats and Unlawful Possession of a Substance.

#2 District: Officers raise thousands for food insecurity in Richmond Hill

Two community-minded officers leveraged their partnership with a local grocery chain to collect more than 10,000 pounds of food and $3,000 in cash for the Richmond Hill Community Food Bank through several Cram-a-Cruiser events in 2023.

When Sergeant Jason Dearing and Constable Milad Baygan learned the food bank was serving more than 3,400 people every month, many of whom experiencing food insecurity, poverty and mental health challenges, they decided to help with collection efforts by urging shoppers to donate as they crammed a YRP cruiser.

They also began random visits to the food bank, offering encouragement to patrons and providing a visible police presence as they interacted with clients and volunteers.

The community, as well as the food bank, has expressed its gratitude for the officers’ hands-on approach as they demonstrated our values of compassion, professionalism and respect.

On Halloween 2023, the York Regional Police Communications Centre received a frantic call from a Town of Georgina mother that her son was choking. Officers responded immediately and upon arrival at the home, found a 10-year-old boy, blue in colour and struggling to breathe.

Constable Andrew Bodnar and Sergeant William Loucks performed emergency first aid, delivering chest thrusts and back blows until the boy started to wheeze and his breathing eased. He was transported to hospital as a precaution, but made a full recovery.

The officers’ quick response and their annual first-aid training saved this boy’s life. Both officers received a YRP Professionalism keepsake coin for their quick and effective lifesaving measures.

In a brazen overnight theft at a City of Vaughan mall, two suspects smashed through glass entrance doors in a stolen black Audi, drove through the interior of the mall to reach their target, proceeded to use a sledge hammer to break into an electronics store, then stole more than $5,000 worth of cell phones and laptops before fleeing the way they came.

Officers responding to the February 1, 2023 call were able to secure enough evidence from the scene, including interior surveillance footage showing the car careening through the mall hallways, to identify three suspects. Canada-wide arrest warrants were issued and search warrants were executed at their residences, where investigators found some of the stolen electronics and $21,000 in cash.

Two men, 20 and 19, of Quebec, have been charged with numerous offences, including Theft Over $5,000, Dangerous Operation of a Motor Vehicle, Possession of Property Obtained by Crime and Mischief to Property. The third suspect is currently before the courts in Quebec on unrelated charges.

Officers responding to a weapons call discovered a grisly scene inside a Markham home, where two females were suffering life-threatening injuries after they were stabbed by a person in crisis.

One of the women also suffered facial injuries after she was beaten when trying to intervene in the attack on the other, before being stabbed herself.

On June 10, 2023, officers arrived at the scene within minutes and immediately arrested the suspect without incident, before initiating lifesaving efforts on the victims. They applied tourniquets to the injured women and arranged for an emergency run to a Toronto trauma centre.

Thankfully, both victims survived. The officers were commended by responding paramedics and the emergency room trauma surgeon who reported the victims would not have lived to reach the hospital but for the quick action of the officers.

A 22-year-old man, of Markham, faces two counts of Attempted Murder and one count of Assault.