Axe-wielding man, 45, arrested after four courthouse doors smashed, police say
Edmonton's halls of justice need a new set of doors.
All four glass panes on the 97 Street entrance of the Edmonton Law Courts were smashed Wednesday night, allegedly by a man carrying an axe. By Thursday morning the glass had been cleaned up and replaced with wood panels.
Edmonton Police Service spokeswoman Cheryl Voordenhout said officers were called to the area around 10 p.m. after a report “of a male running around with an axe.”
After police arrested the 45-yearold man, they learned of the damage to the law courts' east entrance.
He was apprehended under the Mental Health Act and issued an appearance notice for mischief over $5,000 and possession of a weapon dangerous to the public.
Voordenhout said police would not release the name of the accused due to the involvement of the Mental Health Act.
EPS's 2023 annual report, released last week, said the city saw a “marginal” year-over-year increase in social disorder incidents such as mischief, noise complaints and public disturbances. The overall trend, however, was downward: there were 32,544 such incidents last year, compared to 37,520 in 2021.
Window breaking has made headlines in Edmonton on several occasions in recent years.
In 2022, police launched an investigation after $40,000 in windows on Chinatown's historic Hull Block were smashed by vandals.
Last year, CTV reported on an Old Strathcona Business Association grant program launched to help business owners replace broken windows after a rash of glass-smashing incidents.
Smashed glass partly informed the controversial, 1980s-era criminology thesis known as Broken Windows Theory, which argues visible signs of crime and disorder like broken glass lead to additional crime and disorder. The theory informed contentious and invasive police practices such as New York City's stop-and-frisk.
Postmedia has sought comment on repair costs and timelines from Alberta Infrastructure, which owns and operates the law courts.