Man charged following several random assaults with sledgehammer

Toronto police have arrested and charged a man wanted in connection with several random attacks across Toronto dating back to 2017, which included threatening strangers with a sledgehammer and running over a motorcyclist.

According to police, 35-year-old Jourdain Durrant of Toronto surrendered himself to authorities on Tuesday and is facing a slew of charges including five counts of assault with a weapon, uttering death threats, and dangerous driving causing bodily harm, among others.

In a previous news release, police had described the suspect as “armed, violent, erratic and dangerous.”

Suspect was wanted in four separate incidents

Police say Durrant was wanted for four separate incidents, three of which are said to have occurred this fall, while the fourth allegedly happening in the spring of 2017.

On November 16, just after 4 pm, officers responded to a call for unknown trouble at Merrill Bridge Road Park.

Police say a 26-year-old man was walking his dog when another man got out of his vehicle and began chasing the victim around with a sledgehammer. The suspect then returned to his car and left.

On the same afternoon nearly 15 minutes later, a 42-year-old woman was standing on the corner at Danforth Avenue and Moberly Avenue, when a man got out of his vehicle brandishing a sledgehammer.

The suspect then raised the sledgehammer and shouted at the woman before getting back into his car and fleeing the scene.

Toronto Police

Weeks earlier, a man and woman were pulled to the side of the road in the area of Overlea Boulevard and Thorncliffe Park Drive as they checked directions.

Police say a man pulled up next to the pair while brandishing a flare, a handgun and a long-bladed knife. The man then began yelling at them and making threats.

The man fled the scene while the victims recorded the exchange.

The first alleged incident occurred on May 3, 2017, on the Don Valley Parkway when a motorcyclist pulled up next to a motorist who was driving erratically in the northbound lane near Lawrence Avenue East.

There was then an exchange between the driver and motorcyclist, which led to the driver intentionally swerving into the motorcyclist and striking him.

As the motorcyclist laid on the ground, the driver drove over him before fleeing the scene, according to police.

The Toronto police have thanked members of the public for their help in finding the suspect.

Suspect was wanted in four separate incidents

See also