Weekend vandalism worries Toronto neighbourhood

Toronto police are investigating after at least 17 vehicles had their windows and windshields shattered early Sunday morning.

It happened along a stretch of Sorauren Avenue, just north of Queen Street West.

Police are now looking for a suspect described as a white male between 30 and 40 years old, wearing a black mask, black T-shirt and blue jeans.

“It was reported that the man was walking northbound on Sorauren Avenue, and he was smashing vehicle windshields with a hammer,” Toronto Police Service Constable Cindy Chung told Global News.

Shane Pikelin owns one of the vandalized vehicles. He made the discovery while getting into his car on Sunday morning to go rock climbing.

Pikelin looked up and directly over the driver’s side was a crack in the windshield.

“I’m currently dealing with a claim for my rear bumper,” he said. “Someone hit me, so now I have two claims for my car.”

He tells Global News his deductible is around $1,000 and the damage caused to his vehicle is probably worth around $600 to $800. That means he could very well wind up footing the bill himself.

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Located on Queen Street West near Jameson Avenue, Tsering Phuntsok’s restaurant Garleek Kitchen prides itself on creating culinary confections that combine the flavours of Tibet, Nepal, India, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.

But when he came to work on Sunday morning, what he found was a shattered front window and splotches of red.

“Three times of breaking my windows and the dollars and the amount that I need to pay. Claiming insurance – there’s certain types of numbers you can only claim, and if it’s not enough, it’s not worth it,” he said.

Toronto Police told Global News that a report has been filed.

Phunstok says that while his restaurant does have surveillance cameras, they weren’t facing the street.

Police were unable to definitively say whether the cases were connected, but the investigation continues.