Two of Mimico’s top money-earning automated speed enforcement cameras have been vandalized and made inoperable by what appears to be orange spray paint.

The cameras are located on Stanley Avenue, near Elizabeth Street; and on Mimico Ave., and Station Rd., according to photos of the vandalized cameras posted on social media.

The Stanley Avenue camera gained media notoriety after city statistics showed that between Dec. 1 and Dec. 31, issued 2,888 tickets or 13 per cent of all the fines issued.

A vehicle was caught on Stanley Avenue going 71 km an hour in a 30 km an hour zone, the highest speed noted, with a fine of $607.

The camera on Mimico Avenue, which is in between two elementary schools caught 408 offenders much less than on Stanley Avenue. The highest speed was clocked at 66 km an hour in a 30 km an hour zone with the highest fine at $532.

Area residents say the cameras play an important role in protecting local children from motorists speeding through area streets.

“I couldn’t imagine how valuable these speed cameras are to the community, especially that there are a lot of kids in the area,” Mark wrote on social media. “It’s sad to see both being tampered with…”

Mark used to live in the area and “used to pass by this place almost every day with my wife.”

Shari wondered if the vandals who spray painted the camera will be captured on video.

There were no warnings about the vandalized cameras from Toronto Police on their social media pages.

Fifty automated speed enforcement (ASE)  cameras were installed, two per ward, across Toronto in community safety zones (near schools) and began issuing speeding tickets last summer.

There were 2,057 repeat offenders across all the cameras in December, with one driver receiving 15 tickets for speeding on both Stanley Avenue and Mimico Avenue, which are also one-way streets.

Tickets through ASE cameras are fines only; no demerit points are issued. The fines are also billed and mailed to the registered vehicle owner, regardless of who was driving. The registered vehicle owner’s driving record will not be impacted through these tickets, the city said.

The cameras were previously installed on different streets across Toronto but were moved in late November to new locations and began issuing tickets again Dec. 1.

The City of Toronto said a total of 22,180 speeding tickets were mailed out to vehicle owners in the second round of locations within the first month of December.

Two 18-year-olds from Toronto have been charged by police in connection with a series of violent bank robberies, including one in Mimico in which two officers were hospitalized.

The 22 Division officers were treated for cuts and stab wounds in hospital and released.

Police allege the men are responsible for four bank robberies which were committed in the South Etobicoke area in a violent spree that terrorized tellers from January 25 to March 24.

Hold Up Squad officers said during the robberies a man would enter the bank with a balaclava mask to conceal his identity. He would approach the teller and hand over a note that said he had a gun and demanded cash.

Police said during the March 26 robbery, in which the officers were injured, the men were armed with knives.

“The man then went behind the teller counter while holding the knife and yelling at the teller,” officers said in a release.

Plainclothes officers were nearby and arrived at the scene with the men still inside the bank.

“One man ran out of the rear exit with an officer pursuing him,” police said. “The officer caught up with the man and was able to place him in custody after a violent struggle.”

Another violent struggle broke out between the officer and suspect inside the bank.

“The man stabbed the officer in the abdomen during the struggle causing serious injuries,” according to police.

Hold Up Squad officers conducted a search warrant and located clothing and other evidence linking one man to several robberies.

Neelkanth Shah, 18, was arrested on March 26 and charged with: attempt murder, aggravated assault, robbery with an offensive weapon, four counts of robbery and five counts of disguise with intent.

He appeared for a bail hearing on March 27 at Old City Hall Court.

Nathaniel Mohabir, 18, was arrested the same day and charged with: robbery with an offensive weapon, disguise with intent and assault with intent to resist arrest.

He is slated to return to court on May 3.

Police suspect this family may have been using COVID-19 to avert a massive drug bust.

Two members of a Brampton family will appear in provincial court in April after $1.6 million worth of drugs were found in a suitcase belonging to one of their children, aged 10 and 12.

The RCMP Cpl. Dmitri Malakhov said the family of two adults and the two children were arriving from Montego Bay, Jamaica, on February 2021, at Pearson Airport when their luggage were examined.

Police said one piece of the children’s luggage contained 7.7 kilograms of cocaine, worth $962,500; 93 kilograms of marijuana, worth $688,940, and 218 grams of hash, worth $4,360.

“A suitcase concealing cannabis was checked in under the ticket of a 12-yar-old girl,” the RCMP said in a statement. The value of the drugs seized is estimated at $1.6 million.

Police said both parents were charged with three counts each of importation of a controlled substance and three counts of conspiracy to commit an indictable offence.

The children were released to other family members.

“Seizures like this underscore the necessity for the RCMP to work closely with our law enforcement partners and the public to protect our communities and our border,” Said Inspector Barry Dolan, RCMP Officer in Charge of Toronto Airport Detachment.

 

The needy in the community are the big winners as more two vanloads of non-perishable items were collected in the first annual Lakeshore Village BIA Cruising Easter Bunny.

A team of volunteers on March 27 circled the area collecting bags of food that were left by residents on their porches to help St. Margaret’s Church, on Sixth Street.

All the children had an opportunity to have their photos taken with the Easter Bunny, who said it was the most photos he ever had taken of him.

Organizers said the campaign was a success and they plan to continue it next year.

St. Margaret’s official Julie McMillan said their cupboards were “overflowing” with the much-needed donations to help feed the community.

“We have finished sorting out the food and for the first time in a long time our cupboards are overflowing,” McMillan told volunteers.

The food will be made available to those in need through programs offered by the church.

Kris Korwin-Kuczynski, Chair of the Lakeshore Village BIA, said it was a very successful food drive and thanked the many residents for pitching in.

“This community has been good to us,” he said. “Now it is our turn to give back to the community.”

He thanks St. Margaret’s Church and the New Toronto Ratepayers Association for their support.

John, a volunteer, said he was taken back by the large amount of food left on the porches to pick up.

“It was a fair bit of work,” John said. “But we totally loved it and enjoyed watching the children with the Easter Bunny made our day.”

The Easter Bunny was surrounded by children as he hopped along Lake Shore Blvd., near Sixth Street, handing out candies.

The drivers of vehicles passing by did a double take and many pulled over so their children could get some candies and have a photo taken with the Easter Bunny. Others were blowing their horns.

One young child, in a stroller, recognized the bunny and demanded to have a photo taken with the long-eared rabbit.

Mimico residents are in shock after learning that two Toronto Police officers were injured in their local bank.

The officers, who have not been identified, are in hospital with knife wounds after a bank robbery in Mimico went sour.

Officers from 22 Division were called to a TD Canada Trust Bank, at 2472 Lakeshore Blvd. W., and Allen Avenue, just after 7 p.m. on March 26.

Police say detectives were hot on the trail of the thieves, who are believed to be committing robberies in the Etobicoke area.

Two plainclothes officers, who were working on another case nearby, heard the call and rushed to the bank and apparently confronted the robbers inside.

Insp. Andy Singh said both suspects were armed with knives and got into an altercation with the officers.

One officer was stabbed and the other was cut, Singh said.

One man was arrested inside the bank, while the other fled the scene and was arrested after a short foot chase down Lake Shore Blvd. W. Two knives were recovered at the scene.

“It truly showcases how dangerous and how quick these situations and how they can quickly escalate,” Singh said.

He said both officers were transported to hospital and were in stable condition. They were visited by Chief James Ramer later that night.

Police said there was no threat to public safety.

The suspects are slated to appear for bail hearings.

 

By DAVE KOSONIC

Many requiring a trim relied on barber Charlie Sabia to do the job at his barbershop located at the Burnhamthorpe Mall near Renforth Drive.

Charlie would likely be surprised if he discovered that his former shop is now the home of the Blackstar Cannabis facility that is one of many new marijuana shops in Etobicoke.

The barber was one of the originals at this mall where he cut hair for about 35 years. He retired from barbering a few years ago.

“It is midnight in my life,” he told me as he explained that he was not renewing the lease for his shop at the west end of the plaza.

But Charlie had no need to apologize because he was aged 85 when he set down his barbering scissors for the final time. He earned his barber’s license in his native Italy when he was 16 years old and worked steadily until his retirement.

Charlie had hundreds of customers that came from all over Etobicoke because his patrons knew he would cut their hair to match their personal preferences.

His English was tilted and he would say: “I will cut your hair how you want. You have to wear it. I don’t”. If a customer wanted to sit quietly and relax while Charlie coiffed hair he respected his client’s preference and remained silent.

On the other hand patrons who wanted to talk knew that Charlie listened to every word. “What you tell to me nobody else will never know,” he would assure me if I told him some secrets while seated in his barber’s chair.

Charlie took public transportation to and from work daily which was more than an hour each way he commented. He wore a blue smock while barbering but was always dressed in suit tie and the works when travelling to work or returning home after a day’s work. He was a sharp dresser.

Charlie told me that each evening he and his wife shared a bottle of wine during dinner which always included original Italian-style pasta mixed with seafood prepared by his wife. Charlie would then giggle and add that that he never worried about drinking and driving because he never drove a car and didn’t possess a drivers’ license.

I have no way of contacting Charlie and I hope that he is still enjoying his well-deserved retirement with his wife at his side. A couple of other barbers subsequently took over Charlie’s shop after he departed but both gave up ownership because good old Charlie just could not be replaced.