Suspect who allegedly broke into Scarborough home, assaulted and pepper sprayed resident charged

Toronto police say a man broke into a Scarborough home last month before assaulting and pepper spraying a resident then taking off with cash.

Officers were called to the area of Kingston and McCowan roads on Mar. 27 at approximately 2 a.m. for a robbery call.

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Police said that a suspect approached the residence wearing a mask and knocked on the door before kicking it open. Once inside, he allegedly began searching through the victim’s property and demanded that they hand over cash, they said.

The victim was then struck in the head several times by the suspect and at one point allegedly sprayed with pepper spray, police said.

He left the scene with an undisclosed quantity of cash.

The severity of the victim’s injuries was not disclosed.

Members of the Toronto police’s Hold Up Squad started an investigation following the incident and identified the suspect.

On Apr. 9, investigators executed a search warrant where the suspect was located and taken into custody.

They said that officers recovered items of “evidentiary value” related to the investigation during the search, including a can of pepper spray.

As a result of their investigation, police charged Benhur Dawit Wolday, 31, of Toronto, with robbery with an offensive weapon, break and enter, disguise with intent, administer noxious thing with intent, and breach conditional sentence order.

He was scheduled to appear for a bail hearing on Tuesday.