Homeowner shaken after vandals destroy Christmas inflatables display in Scarborough
CBC
A Scarborough homeowner is shaken after masked vandals armed with hammers destroyed a display of large Christmas inflatables on his front lawn over the weekend, he says.
Scot Patriquin, a Guildwood resident and father of three, said his family put the finishing touches on the display on Saturday.
It included Frosty the Snowman, Santa Claus, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Abominable Snowman and a nativity scene. Completing the display involved tethering the inflatables to the ground.
Patriquin has put up the display every year for nearly a decade. And every year, people drive by to have a look and take pictures with it.
But at 2 a.m. on Sunday, while Patriquin and his son were watching a show, a car pulled up, slowed down and stopped. He said he and his son thought they were just onlookers.
"Then my son screams, 'They're popping the inflatables,'" Patriquin said.
One of the vandals went up to the front door at one point, according to doorbell camera video shown to CBC Toronto.
"When I got to the front door...there was a person on the other side of the front door," Patriquin said.
"The person on the side of the door has a hammer, and he's literally swinging violently the hammer to make sure that he tears this inflatable off the roof and catastrophically destroyed every single one of the inflatables."
Even two inflatables hanging off the roof, of Rudolph saving Santa, were slashed.
Patriquin said the display had "become a source of pride and community spirit" and the house has been known as "the house with the inflatables."
It's a "devastating thought" that it has gone from a source of pride to a scene of destruction, he said.
The incident has been reported to the Toronto police. Stephanie Miceli, spokesperson for the Toronto Police Service, confirmed on Wednesday that police have a report on the incident but no suspect information.
According to Patriquin, the vandals also damaged a vehicle in the neighbourhood and tried unsuccessfully to steal another one.
Hundreds of thousands of used tires are piling up across Ontario as some companies responsible for tire recycling have stopped processing tires amid reduced provincial recycling regulations for tire producers, industry experts say.
People in Guelph facing homelessness will soon have a new place to go during the day.
Islanders are reminded to plan their rides ahead of holiday festivities if they plan on drinking alcohol or using cannabis.
Even before Gwen Healey Akearok began her new role as Nunavut’s Minister of Family Services, she was tuning into the Office of the Auditor General’s (OAG) hearings on the state of the Family Services department.
The racial reckoning of the COVID era saw Canada grapple with its checkered past — a process that led to statues of some foundational figures being removed, in some instances by force.
Holiday traditions are front and centre for many people at this time of year. But one Uxbridge family's Christmas tradition goes above and beyond the standard Christmas carols or holiday party.
A pedestrian is dead, and police are investigating following a collision in a north London parking lot on Tuesday afternoon.
Police have lifted a shelter-in-place order for parts of St. John's.
Nova Scotia Power is providing more information about the cyberattack on the utility earlier this year and its response in the months that followed.
A rare old-growth forest in Quebec’s Mauricie region is at the centre of a growing conflict between conservation advocates and the provincial government, after forestry roadwork was authorized in an area currently under review for protected status.
The FBI and U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York sought an interview with ex-prince Andrew Mountbatten Windsor for connections to Canadian sex offender and fashion mogul Peter Nygard.
A mother is grieving after a carbon monoxide incident killed her 11-year-old son and put her husband in hospital in critical condition.
Just as Alberta begins to dig out from its last winter storm, most of the province is preparing for another blast of snow and brutal cold, just in time for the holidays.