Toronto councillor fights and helps to detain suspected thief

Ex-officer Burnside confronted men with cartful of tools

- DAVID RIDER

A Toronto city councillor fought a suspected thief outside a Home Depot on Wednesday and, with help from two other shoppers, held the man on the ground until police arrived.

Coun. Jon Burnside, who was a police officer from 1991 to 2001, told the Star that he was going into the store on Wicksteed Avenue in Leaside just before 9 a.m. when he saw two men wearing face masks pushing out shopping carts full of what looked like expensive tools.

The store's theft alarm was sounding, Burnside said, and he could see a security tag on one box. He said he told them to stop and, when they ignored them, asked "Hey, did you steal those?" When they continued into the parking lot he pulled out his phone to videotape them.

"One guy turns around and comes at me and says 'F--- you, I'll f---ing kill you," and each started pulling on the shopping cart.

"He came aggressively towards me and I had to defend myself, the fight was on," the Don Valley East councillor said. The other suspected thief turned as if to help his friend, but then saw a crowd forming and fled, Burnside said.