Toronto police charge 2 people after police horse, officer injured

The driver of a pickup truck who allegedly struck a police horse and rammed several cruisers on Queen Street West on Friday afternoon was out on bail at the time of the incident, Toronto police say.

In a news release on Saturday, police announced they had laid charges against the driver and the passenger, who they said was also out on bail.

The incident began around 3 p.m. when officers were alerted by their Automatic License Plate Reader about a stolen Dodge Ram at Queen Street West and Beverley Street, west of University Avenue.

Police said a member of the Mounted Unit who was patrolling the area saw the Dodge and tried to stop it.

The driver of the pickup tried to flee, hitting a police horse and three cruisers, police allege. One of the collisions resulted in the pickup mounting the sidewalk and crashing into the Little Burgundy store.

Shortly after, an occupant in the vehicle is seen in a video jumping out and running away from officers. The individual was shortly arrested following a brief pursuit. Police said a second occupant was also taken into custody at the scene.

Meanwhile, an officer sustained non-life-threatening injuries during the incident, and a police horse named York was taken to an emergency animal hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

On Saturday, police identified the suspects as 33-year-old Jonathan Chabot Desrosiers and 30-year-old Cedar Nicholas, with no fixed address.

Both have been charged with theft of a motor vehicle and possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000.

Desrosiers is facing nine additional charges, including injuring certain animals, dangerous operation of a vehicle, common nuisance/endangering lives or safety of the public, two counts of mischief/damage property over $5,000 and four counts of an assault on a peace officer with a weapon.

Police continue to investigate the incident and are asking anyone with information including video to contact them at 416-808-5200 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477) or www.222tips.com.