A Timmins homeowner is speaking out after rocks were repeatedly thrown at her home over the weekend. Denise Benard still has the rocks she says were used during the incidents. She told CTV News the weekend began with suspects trying to kick down her front door and a bedroom window being shattered. Benard said the vandalism continued with repeated rock throwing as the suspects drove by on an ATV. The homeowner said she first realized something was wrong when she returned home Saturday night and her cats were acting strangely, prompting her to investigate. “When I turned on the light, of course, to my horror, I found that the bedroom window had been completely shattered,” Benard said. “There was a large rock on the floor and glass everywhere.” The following day, she said she was nearly hit by another rock. “At one point I was coming outside to check on my cats who were in their catio, and I saw them coming, and they threw the rock,” Benard said. “Well, I ducked back into the house, just missing the rock hitting me.” “For what reason? I don’t know,” she added. Benard said she called police after each of the three incidents and provided security camera footage. Staff Sgt. Guy Bouffard of the Timmins Police Service said the incidents are being classified as mischief and local police have received a report of a similar incident in the same area of the city. “There has been another report of a very similar incident that occurred in the same area of town. So, it would be in the west end of Timmins,” he said. Bouffard is encouraging residents to report incidents to police, even if they may appear insignificant. “We always stress that no matter how minor you may think it is, it’s important to report it to the police.” For Benard, speaking publicly about what happened is about encouraging others to come forward. “Someone needs to speak up because people post stuff, but then nobody’s willing to come forward and I don’t mind doing this so that people are aware of what’s going on,” she said. Bouffard said Timmins police have received 95 reports of mischief so far this year, compared with 96 during the same period last year.
