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Zravko Gagro, Mr. Ford’s next door neighbour, reported seeing the man just before 8 p.m. “He looked very fishy, and I went to the Mayor’s house and I told him what was going on.”

According to Mr. Hepburn, Mr. Ford then emerged from his property with “fists cocked,” cornered Mr. Dale, and demanded he drop his camera, recorder and cell phone. “Which Daniel did,” said Mr. Hepburn.

ABOVE: The area where the confrontation allegedly took place

By Mr. Dale’s account, the mayor ran at him repeatedly yelling “Are you spying on me? Are you spying on me? Are you spying on me?” “At some point, perhaps 10 or 15 seconds into the encounter, he cocked his fist near his head and began charging at me at a full run,” wrote Mr. Dale. “I began pleading with him, as loud as I could, with my hands up, for him to stop.”

Mr. Gagro reported hearing Mr. Dale screaming “help!” Mr. Ford would “protect his own family, his own property and everything,” said Mr. Gagro. He added that the man never entered Mr. Ford’s backyard.

According to Mr. Dale, Mr. Ford cornered him repeatedly yelling “drop your phone!” “I became more frightened than I can remember; after two or three attempts to dart away, I threw my phone and my recorder down on the grass, yelled that he could take them, and ran,” he wrote. The reporter then drove away from the scene. As of Wednesday night, the equipment had not been recovered by the newspaper.

Just after 10 p.m., a visibly agitated Mr. Ford told reporters gathered outside his home Wednesday night that it was “nonsense” that Mr. Dale was on public property. “I caught him at the back of my fence,” he said.

Police remained on scene only briefly to take witness statements from neighbours. As of Wednesday, the police have not contacted the Toronto Star in relation to the incident.

In January, police were called to Mr. Ford’s home after a former boyfriend of Mr. Ford’s sister, Kathy, forced his way into the home and threatened the Mayor. The man was charged with two counts threatening death and forcible entry.

Last October, Mr. Ford called police after This Hour Has 22 Minutes actress Mary Walsh accosted him in his front yard as part of a comedy skit.

National Post

• Email: thopper@nationalpost.com