Apartment visit led to arrest of Forcillo

Officer who fatally shot teen Sammy Yatim on streetcar charged with breaching bail

Opening a door this week may have cost Toronto police Const. James Forcillo his freedom — albeit under strict house-arrest conditions — while he waits for his appeals to be heard next year.

Forcillo was found guilty of attempted murder in January 2016 in the 2013 shooting death of Sammy Yatim as the teen stood alone on a streetcar brandishing a small knife.

He was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment and was released in July 2016 pending appeals of his conviction and sentence. Forcillo’s bail conditions included that he live with a surety, his now ex-wife Irina Ratushnyak, in their Vaughan home with their two children.

She and her parents each signed a surety in the combined amount of $510,000, money pledged to the court if Forcillo breached his bail conditions or failed to show up in court. But the marriage fell apart, the couple divorced and Forcillo reconnected with a woman he knew from college in California.

That woman, Sara Balderrama, moved to Toronto and the pair planned to move into an apartment together and marry. Earlier this month, Forcillo’s lawyers filed an application to have his address changed and add Balderrama as a surety. Court documents filed as part of that application detail the changes in Forcillo’s personal life. A hearing was scheduled for Thursday.

But before that happened, two investigators knocked on a Toronto apartment door Tuesday at 9:30 a.m.

“Good morning, James, you are not supposed to be here,” one of the investigators said, according to court documents filed on behalf of the attorney general. “I know, it is only temporary, I’m not here all the time, it is just temporary,” Forcillo replied.

The next day, Forcillo was arrested, taken into custody and charged with failing to comply with his recognizance, which carries a maximum sentence of two years’ imprisonment. A bail hearing in relation to the new charge was adjourned in provincial court until Friday.

Except on Thursday, the attorney general filed a notice with the Ontario Court of Appeal asking a judge to revoke Forcillo’s bail.

“There are reasonable grounds to believe that the respondent has violated the terms and conditions of the judicial interim release order . . . by being outside his court-ordered residence,” the application notice states.

Forcillo was remanded in custody and will return to court Nov. 30. Because he is a police officer, he is in protective custody at the jail.