Toronto police allege a man walked away from a mental health facility and committed two robberies over the weekend.
Surveillance camera footage obtained by CTV News Toronto from Venezia Bakery, located near Ossington Avenue and Queen Street West, shows a customer looking around the store while a staff member sets up for the day. Moments later, the man disappears off camera.
“And now he’s gone behind the counter, attacks her and grabs her by the throat and forces her to open the till,” said Steve MacDonell, whose in-laws own the bakery.
In the video, a man appears to empty the till of its contents before pushing his way past another customer on his way out the door.
“It’s a little bit frightening,” MacDonell said. “My wife used to work here, my daughter worked here and that time in the morning my mother-in-law opens most mornings. I mean, they’re very vulnerable.”
About 45 minutes after the incident, police tweeted about a missing man they identified as Kleiton DaSilva.
DaSilva was a patient at CAMH and had been reported missing the night before. In a statement, a spokesperson for CAMH said that police were notified about an hour after DaSilva went missing.
“Public and patient safety is a top priority for CAMH. We have clear policies and procedures in place to balance the rights of patients with the safety of the community to promote recovery. We take this incident very seriously and we are reviewing the incident,” the statement read.
“This incident is very concerning and our thoughts go out to the victims.”
CTV News Toronto has learned that DaSilva was arrested 10 years ago for second-degree murder in connection with the 2009 stabbing of a 46-year-old-man near Dundas Street and Brock Avenue. A 58-year-old man was also injured during the incident.
“DaSilva was on an Ontario Review Board (ORB) custodial order, having been found “not criminally responsible”, with some release privileges,” Toronto police Const. David Hopkinson said in a statement. “He breached that order by leaving the facility and not returning.”
CAMH confirms that DaSilva had limited permission to leave the grounds at 30-minute increments while being “indirectly supervised,” but never returned to campus Saturday night.
Around 8 p.m. on Sunday, when officers couldn’t find him, they took to social media ask for the public’s help in locating DaSilva. They say when CAMH reported the man missing, his past was not mentioned to officers.
DaSilva was found an hour later.
Police allege that while DaSilva was missing, he robbed a convenience store Saturday night and a bakery Sunday morning.
DaSilva appeared in court Monday morning.
With files from CTV News Toronto’s Janice Golding
