A man who was taken into custody after smashing the plate glass windows of an NDP candidate’s office may not face charges after all, police say.
Police were initially called to the Bloor Street and Dovercourt Road area at around 2:30 a.m. to investigate a reported break-and-enter at the campaign office of Davenport NDP candidate Marite Stiles.
Initial reports suggested that a suspect had smashed the windows at the front of the building and was seen rooting around inside.
Police arrested a suspect at the scene but by 8 a.m. they were no longer treating the incident as a break-and-enter.
Police told CP24 that the suspect was intoxicated and had informed investigators that he crashed into the glass window by accident.
They say that it is unclear whether the suspect will face any charges at this point, as he lacked intent.
Speaking with CP24 outside the office on Saturday morning, Stiles called the incident “disheartening” but said that it won’t derail the final days of her campaign.
“At the end of the day we have a really great community around here. We have already had people sending emails and walking by to offer help and we really do appreciate that,” she said. “We have five more days to go and we have lots of volunteers so we are going to be OK. It wasn’t a great day to start the Saturday but we are going to be all right.”
Stiles said that she is particularly thankful to multiple people who alerted authorities about the incident early Saturday morning.
"That is what I love about the community here, people took action right way," she said.
Police say that the person taken into custody was transported to hospital, where he was treated for injuries sustained as a result of the incident.
