Saturday, February 28, 2009

CNN Anchor Caught Off Guard

This CNN Anchor was caught making a funny face and pointing to her ear when the camera returned after an item. My guess is her IFB (ear piece) was feeding her the wrong sound. I love live TV.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Working for the Man

I have worked a lot of overtime in the last week. It’s been mostly small stuff that has been keeping me busy. We’ve had a couple of house fires that got going pretty good. We had a 55 Division Sergeant that crashed on the way to a call. We even had a nice fraud story that included 11Division MCU doing 5 early morning search warrants. They were credit card skimmers who were targeting high end clients of a spa in Yorkville.


It was not a good week for the Jane and Finch neighborhood. Two shootings at 15 Tobermory started things off. Then Peter Bowen, aged 20, was shot and killed at 345 Driftwood. Peter’s death didn’t get much play in the media. It happened on a busy news day and was basically trumped on many newscasts by a shooting on a TTC bus. The victim on the bus sustained non-life threatening injuries but whenever a shooting takes place on a bus it is big news.
I don’t know if the shootings at Jane and Finch are connected at all, but I heard a cop tonight saying that a feud is ongoing between the guys from Tobermory and the guys from Driftwood. This is a very dangerous neighborhood.
Note to Self: If you’re going to get shot … do it on a TTC bus.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Early Start In Scarborough

Homicide 11 Antrim Cres. Man found in Apt 109 with gun shot wound to the chest. Pronounced on scene. I hardly had time to eat that second piece of birthday cake when it was time to hit the road and get to work. I just finished an interview with homicide. They are not saying much. The man was 30 years old and was shot inside the apartment. Three men fled after the shooting. Detectives gave no indication what preceded the shooting. Nothing left to do but wait for the body removal shot. While waiting I heard a call around the corner for a person with a gun. A male had pointed a handgun at the owner of a cafe when he was asked to leave. Police initiated a high risk take down on Ellesmere just west of Kennedy Rd. One replica hand gun was recovered. Two in custody and one vehicle towed. Maybe that fake gun wasn't such a good idea after all.

Gas station robbers are at it again tonight. They hit one on Warden around 9:30pm and then one in York Region around 10:30pm. They must not get much cash from these jobs. They hit a third sation in Etobicoke a little later. Always two or three bandits masked up and brandishing knives. Cops suspect a get away car sits near by. Black males with dark clothes and hoodies brandishing alarge butcher knife.

Who's the good looking guy with the cake?

Another year has gone by and I really can't believe it is my birthday again. This year I would like to save enough money for the whole family to go to Thailand. We are aiming for fall or winter 2009. It's always a nice break from the cold.

Cheers to good friends and a loving family. Happy Birthday to ME!

Monday, February 9, 2009

Sleepy Sunday

Last night was a pretty quiet Sunday night shift. The news business is strange indeed. Two items that I shot on Thursday night didn’t make the show. This is surprising as one was a shooting, which you would just assume would make the cut. The problem is time was very tight and Friday was a busy news day. In comparison, today was a quiet news day, so two smaller item got on the show. The first happened right around midnight when an elderly man was struck by a car on Pape, outside the subway station. He had severe leg injuries and possible head injuries. He was in his late seventies so that is cause for concern.

The second incident was a holdup at an Esso gas bar on St.Clair around Danforth Road. Police think this may have been the work of a duo that have been busy the last couple of weeks. They are usually armed with knives and take the whole cash tray and put it into a laptop style should bag. They are alleged to have hit several gas bars around town. I’m sure these robberies are just terrifying for the poor attendant who gets the knife stuck in his face. They are usually made to lie down while they make an escape. This doesn’t seem to be getting much attention, possibly due to the use of knives versus guns.

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Fire and Ice

Good start to the night with a 3rd alarm fire near Sheppard and McCowan. First arriving crews reported heavy flames. It was called in by a neighbor and once inside crews reported it was a grow op. Access was hindered by bars on windows. The fire burned for over three hours and crew will be on scene all night and into the day shift. I actually left then went back later to try for a clip but all crews were still very busy and I couldn't feel my face, hands or feet. I love the summer night shift so much more than the winter night shift, -18 without the wind. No injuries except the frostbite.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Midweek Mayhem in Midtown.

It was a pretty busy night last night. It still amazes me how I sit around and it’s nice and quiet and then boom, it gets really busy and it’s game on. Last night I was sitting in the parking lot of Yorkdale, enjoying a coffee with Tom from CP24 and Jason from Global. We were parked near the 401 side of the mall lot when a hotshot came across the radio for an attempted robbery at Yorkdale subway station. We were on scene in about 20 seconds but the culprits were already long gone. This is the second night in a row that a subway station collector has been robbed at gunpoint. It seems this time they missed the money. I will not get into details but I’m guessing TTC staff was already on alert. The night before bandits had hit the Lawrence subway, just about 1km away. Note to all TTC staff; be on the lookout for shotgun toting visitors. Seems they have found out TTC stops make better targets than gas stations.

I was at the DVP and York Mills when a fire call came in for Spencer Ave. It’s always so hard not to speed on the highway when you find yourself 10-15 minutes out and you hear the first cop on scene say that the fire is a big one. Then he starts closing roads which only makes getting there that much harder. I actually made good time and you could still see flames when I arrived. The Fire Marshall has been called in to investigate the cause and both sides of the semi-detached were damaged extensively.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Hot Times in West End

After numerous fires in the west end, a man has been charged with prowl by night and arson, this after the latest fires early Monday morning. The fires were fairly small but caused a lot of damage to a garage and shed. It seems like only a matter of time before someone gets hurt in this arson spree so residents are hoping police have the right guy. They are asking people to remain vigilant and to clean up any flammable material in and around their property.



Police found some footprints at the scene of the latest fires but it is well known that they are watching several suspects for these fires. Could we have more than one arsonist in the area? Let’s hope not but only time will tell. Police have been all over this and continue to work the case.