Brake lines cut in St. Paul's riding

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Some Liberal supporters in the St. Paul's riding were on the receiving end of a vandalism spree over the weekend.

A total of 18 separate cases of vandalism were reported with the most serious involving residents having their cars' brake lines cut. Others reported cut telephone and cable lines, cars that had been keyed and anti-Liberal graffiti sprayed on houses. The spree hit an area of midtown Toronto stretching along Eglinton Avenue from Bathurst Street to Mount Pleasant Road.

It appears the victims were targeted after putting up lawn signs for local Liberal candidate Carolyn Bennett.

Andrew Lane, chief financial officer for Bennett's campaign, was one of those targeted. His car's brake lines were cut, nearly causing him to get into an accident.

"There were a few seconds of terror as I felt my car going onto Eglinton Avenue," he said.

Lane said he was shocked that someone would go to such lengths in what appeared to be a politically motivated crime spree, adding the weekend's incidents far outstripped the more usual types of vandalism that sometimes occur around election time.

"It's one thing to kick over someone's lawn sign or even to key (his) car," he said. "Those are things that annoy you, but you have to be pretty malicious to crawl under someone's car with an X-acto knife and cut their brake lines, knowing the next time they get in their car it could cause them to get into a serious accident."

Making matters worse, Lane has two car seats for his young children. The Bennett supporter said he was disgusted that someone would do what they did to his car knowing that "it was not just me but potentially my whole family who could be hurt."

Bennett said she was appalled at the acts, adding if people had problems with her governance or her party's platform and policies, they should have tried to discuss the matter with her rather than lashing out in a potentially deadly way against her supporters.

"This isn't the way to talk to me or express one's opinion," Bennett said Tuesday. "This goes way beyond partisan, this is life-threatening."

Bennett was disturbed by some Liberal supporters in the area who reported receiving telephone calls threatening they will be the next victims unless they remove their lawn signs, adding the calls may not come from the original vandals but by others in the community who feel emboldened by the spate of dangerous incidents.

She added she was amazed by the number of people who have asked for lawn signs in the wake of the vandalism and threats.

"The number of people who have asked for signs who never had signs before, or who have asked for larger signs since this happened is unbelievable," she said. "We can't keep up with the sign requests, and I thank those people for their courage and support."

At the same time, however, the MP said she understands and supports those in the community who, fearful of the vandals' tactics, have decided not to house her lawn signs anymore.

"If people feel unsafe, that's totally understandable and we will help them take down their (lawn) signs," she said.

Bennett added people in the community have overwhelmingly shown their disgust over the vandalism, with many suggesting the cut brake lines be treated by police not as mischief but as attempted murder. She lauded the police for their work in investigating the crimes, noting they increased patrols in the community and are undertaking a full criminal investigation with forensic testing on the victims' cars.

"We're taking this very seriously," said Toronto police spokesperson Tony Vella. "The one thing that appears to be consistent is that the victims are all Liberal supporters."

Police are currently inspecting the targeted cars, looking for fingerprints or other clues that could lead to an arrest of the person or people responsible.

Vella added there were no subsequent reports of vandalism following a spate of attacks that took place from Friday night to Saturday morning.

In the Parkdale-High Park riding, 11 similar acts of vandalism, including more cut brake lines, took place Saturday. In those cases, the victims were also known Liberal supporters.