Toronto

Police seek public's help in ID'ing woman in video that shows her tossing chair off condo balcony

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Toronto police say incident took place around 10 a.m. ET, woman believed to be in her 20s

A video of this young woman throwing a chair off a balcony has led to online outrage over the possibility it caused an accident. (Lisa Calderon/Facebook )

Police are asking for the public's help in identifying a young woman who threw a chair and other items from an upper floor of a downtown Toronto condo building.

A video posted on the weekend on Facebook with the caption "good morning" shows the woman taking a peek over the balcony, and then throwing a folding chair onto the Gardiner Expressway and Harbour Street area below.

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The video cuts out before the chair lands, but police believe it landed on the sidewalk in front of the condo building entrance, said Const. David Hopkinson.

Toronto police say the incident took place around 10 a.m. ET on Saturday in the Harbour and York streets area — where there are dozens of condo towers — and that a mischief investigation was launched on Sunday morning.

Hopkinson said they know two chairs were likely thrown over the balcony, as well as other items.

"We're looking at 20 to 30 floors up, or more," said Hopkinson. "Had anyone been underneath [the chair], the injuries would have been very, very serious."

Sgt. Ron Boyce told Radio-Canada that police believe the condo is at 55 Bremner Blvd., and said management at the building is working with them.

DEL Property Management, the company that runs the building, said they've provided information to police and declined to comment further about the incident.

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The woman is believed to be in her 20s, police say.

The chair is seen spinning in the wind as it falls down towards the highway. (Lisa Calderon/Facebook )

Public outrage

"Public outrage is extremely high. I'm getting calls every other minute on this," said Hopkinson, who says these chairs are 10 to 15 pounds, or 4.5 to 6.8 kilograms.

If a chair had hit somebody, the injuries could have been very serious or fatal, he said.

Police do not know the chair-thrower's intent, he said. Depending on the investigation, the person could be charged with public nuisance or mischief endangering life, he said.

Hopkinson said they know at least one other person was there: whoever was holding the camera.

He believes there's another video recorded from a lower vantage point than the balcony. It may also identify the woman, he said.

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Hopkinson is hoping to get a copy of that video and says people can send it anonymously to Crime Stoppers.

Other balcony-throwing incidents

​Last week, CBC News reported on residents of a downtown condo tower who were infuriating their neighbours in a nearby building by throwing trash and liquor bottles, and vomiting from their balconies.

People have previously been charged for similar incidents.

Last year in Vancouver, a 56-year-old man was arrested for allegedly throwing furniture from his nineteenth floor balcony.

The year before that, cement cinderblocks were tossed into Toronto traffic from Highway 401 overpasses. A 32-year-old was charged with three counts of mischief endangering life.

With files from Chris Glover