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rfmcdonaldIt all began when, after getting late off of work, I decided to pop by the The Duke of Gloucester pub (649 Yonge Street) to see if some friends of mine were still there. I got out at the Spadina TTC station instead of the Wellesley or Bloor-Yonge stations that would have been more appropriate because I confused the Duke of Gloucester with the The Ferret & Firkin (720 Spadina Avenue).
Suitably chastened, I was walking north across the intersection of Bloor and Spadina just as something started. The gentleman with the bottle was in his 30s or possibly 20s, with tangled hair and possibly of Asian or First Nations background, one of (I think) a group of homeless people who had been hanging out in the Scotiabank's heated lobby where the ATMs are. The gentleman being chased was in his 20s, tall and thin with tightly-cropped blonde hair, wearing a black leather jacket and talking on his cellphone. Something happened--I don't know what--and the possibly homeless man was chasing the other, waving the bottle and telling him to "Get out of my space!" The man was moving, chatting on his cell as he went, but the man kept following. Midway between the streetcorner and the subway station, the threatening gentleman broke the bottle and continued waving it.
The man being chased entered the subway via a side entrance, one reserved for bus passengers. The man chasing him followed, chasing him around the turnstiles as one TTC staffmember safely behind plexiglass made a phone call and another followed the angry man, trying to get him to calm down. He didn't and tried to attack, hitting the man's arm with the bottle several times before he was separated. The man being attacked then fled down the escalator to the streetcar level. He was followed, the men weaving their ways through crowded corridors filled with streetcar passengers.
I don't know what happened next, because, after escaping through the crowd, I ran to the nearest payphone and called 911. I left a message with them and then ran from the station, taking the first taxi away. My fight or flight reflex kicked in, I guess.
Well. I suppose I'll have to check in with the police. I wonder if a criminal case mighht come of this. This is the first time I've seen something like this; I'm still shaking.
UPDATE (11:45 PM) : My followup post is here.
Suitably chastened, I was walking north across the intersection of Bloor and Spadina just as something started. The gentleman with the bottle was in his 30s or possibly 20s, with tangled hair and possibly of Asian or First Nations background, one of (I think) a group of homeless people who had been hanging out in the Scotiabank's heated lobby where the ATMs are. The gentleman being chased was in his 20s, tall and thin with tightly-cropped blonde hair, wearing a black leather jacket and talking on his cellphone. Something happened--I don't know what--and the possibly homeless man was chasing the other, waving the bottle and telling him to "Get out of my space!" The man was moving, chatting on his cell as he went, but the man kept following. Midway between the streetcorner and the subway station, the threatening gentleman broke the bottle and continued waving it.
The man being chased entered the subway via a side entrance, one reserved for bus passengers. The man chasing him followed, chasing him around the turnstiles as one TTC staffmember safely behind plexiglass made a phone call and another followed the angry man, trying to get him to calm down. He didn't and tried to attack, hitting the man's arm with the bottle several times before he was separated. The man being attacked then fled down the escalator to the streetcar level. He was followed, the men weaving their ways through crowded corridors filled with streetcar passengers.
I don't know what happened next, because, after escaping through the crowd, I ran to the nearest payphone and called 911. I left a message with them and then ran from the station, taking the first taxi away. My fight or flight reflex kicked in, I guess.
Well. I suppose I'll have to check in with the police. I wonder if a criminal case mighht come of this. This is the first time I've seen something like this; I'm still shaking.
UPDATE (11:45 PM) : My followup post is here.
