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DORCHESTER – Danielle Johnstone was sleeping when three masked men burst into her family’s home in this community east of London before dawn.
“I looked down the hallway from my bedroom and all of a sudden I see a guy with a mask on and I was like, ‘Oh my god, this is a home invasion.’” Johnstone said.
“They wanted money,” she said on the intruders. “They had ropes, everything with them.”
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The three men with balaclavas over their faces, one of them armed with a handgun, entered the Minnie Street house through an unlocked back door before 5 a.m. Thursday, Johnstone said.
They tied up Johnstone and beat up her daughter, Ashley, whose two children, 3 and 4, also were in the house.
“Finally, one of the guys brought the kids upstairs to me in the bathroom where I was tied up. They were crying,” she said of her grandchildren.
The men took the keys to an SUV and fled with some cash, Johnstone said.
Middlesex OPP said three suspects entered a Minnie Street home around 4:40 a.m. and assaulted a resident before fleeing with a vehicle and other property.
Investigators asked the public for information, but no arrests had been made as of Friday.
The split-level house targeted in the home invasion is the same home where London police tactical officers arrested shooting suspect Brandon Ford on March 2, 2023. A live-streamed video showing police surrounding the Minnie Street house was posted on Ford’s Facebook page shortly before his arrest.
Ford, 31, pleaded guilty last month to discharging a firearm, robbery with a weapon, breaching probation and two counts of breaching a release order. The charges stem from a shooting outside a London variety store on March 1, 2023, and an unrelated home invasion on Feb. 6, 2023.
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Defence lawyer Keli Mersereau requested Ford be freed on bail until his sentencing to allow him to spend time with his daughter, who was born while he was in jail, and get his affairs in order.
Ontario Court Justice Kevin McHugh agreed to release Ford, ordering him to be fitted with a GPS-tracking bracelet and return to court for sentencing. But Ford was a no-show at his sentencing hearing Wednesday and police issued a warrant for his arrest.
Ford turned himself in to police on Friday. He faces new charges of mischief, failing to attend court and failing to comply with a release order.
Asked whether Ford is a suspect in Thursday’s home invasion, an OPP spokesperson said the investigation is in its early stages.
For Johnstone, who is traumatized by the home invasion, news of Ford’s arrest brought her some comfort.
“Good to know,” she said when told Ford was back behind bars.
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