Home invasion suspect caught on local rooftop
A man suspected in a string of local robberies is now behind bars after an intense police take-down north of the city.
He and another man suspected of breaking and entering into North Toronto homes in the past few months were caught on April 13 trying to escape from a Thornhill home they had just allegedly robbed. His accomplice didn’t make it out alive.
York Regional police shot both suspects in an attempt to thwart their escape. While one remained slumped in the getaway vehicle, the other
managed to make his way to a home on Robinter Cr. in Willowdale before surrendering to police.
He had forced his way into the home, pushing aside three shocked residents, before making his way to a second floor roof. An occupant of the home called 911 and a joint effort of York, Toronto and Durham police located and arrested the suspect. No one inside the home was hurt.
The suspect was taken to Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, where he was treated for non-life threatening injuries and released to police custody.
Both the wounded and gunned down man are also suspected of masterminding additional home invasions that occurred in York Region and North Toronto since the end of February.
Police believe they are the men who robbed two people at gunpoint after breaking into their affluent home on Old Colony Rd. on Feb. 24.
They also believe they were behind the mugging of prominent Hogg’s Hollow resident Sherry Cooper, chief economist with BMO Nesbitt Burns and executive vice-president with BMO Financial Group and Chicago’s Harris Bank.
Cooper and her husband, Peter, were asleep when two men broke into their Old Yonge St. home at approximately 4:30 a.m. on March 13. They were awakened to find the two suspects searching through their dresser drawers. The couple was then bound and robbed before the suspects stole their car.
"Capturing this suspect was very significant," said York Regional Constable Laurie Perks. "Anytime you can capture a person linked to several crimes, it’s a big deal."
Kevin Harris, 26, from Ajax has been charged with 10 counts of forcible confinement, five counts of robbery while armed with a firearm and five counts of disguise with intent. Sheldon McKenzie, 21, also from Ajax was the man gunned down by police.
The Special Investigations Unit has been called in to investigate, as is the case every time a suspect is seriously injured or killed through an altercation with police.
