NEWS RELEASE
BARRIE POLICE SERVICE
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Barrie Police is seeking the assistance of the public after an assault took place at the Tim Hortons located at 353 Duckworth St., on Feb. 23, 2021 just before 8:30 p.m.
This incident began when three females entered the store and one of the females proceeded to go past a bathroom closed sign and use the facilities.
When the female exited from the bathroom area, an employee approached her advising that the bathrooms were closed, and she should not have gone past the sign. A verbal argument quickly escalated to a point where the employee was attacked by the female suspect.
The ensuing interaction continued and moved to an area behind the counter. From the video that police obtained, it would appear that one of the other females who had entered with the suspect was filming the entire incident as it continued unfold.
Another employee of Tim Hortons intervened and was able to remove the assaultive suspect who was on top of the victim and all three suspects and an unknown male, who by this time had come into the store left.
The employee who was attacked sustained non-life-threatening injuries and one of the involved females as she left, picked up a drive-through headset, exited the store only to smash it against the outside wall before entering what is believed to be a dark-coloured Mazda 6.
The headset was never recovered after being damaged and it is believed that female who took likely still has it in her possession.
Unfortunately, due to the apparent age of the three females and the male involved, the Barrie police cannot release surveillance footage or still pictures obtained from this investigation as everyone involved appears to be under the age of 18 and doing so would be in contravention of provisions contained in the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA).
Police can, however, confirm that the female suspect who attacked the employee may have sustained a bite-related injury to one of her hands and that this injury may have been visible or may have required bandaging in the days after the incident occurred.
If anyone has knowledge of what took place at this Tim Hortons or knows anyone who may have been involved, you are strongly encouraged to contact Constable Guerrero of the Barrie Police Service at 705-725-7025, ext. 2628.
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