Police in Ontario, Canada, said they charged a homeowner after he fought with an alleged intruder earlier this week.

Kawartha Lakes Police Service said officers responded around 3:20 a.m. Monday to an apartment on Kent Street in Lindsay for a report of an altercation between two males. Lindsay is about 2.5 hours northeast of Toronto.

'I know if someone breaks into my house or someone else's, you're gonna fight for your life,' Ford added. 'This guy has a weapon. You're gonna use any force you possibly can to protect your family. I'm telling you, I know everyone would.'

Arriving officers learned that the resident woke up to find an intruder inside his apartment, police said, adding that the intruder received "serious life-threatening injuries" as a result of the altercation.

The intruder was taken to Ross Memorial Hospital and later airlifted to a Toronto hospital, police said, adding that there is no risk to public safety.

However, police said they charged the 44-year-old homeowner with aggravated assault and assault with a weapon and then released him with a future court date. While police did not describe the weapon, CTV News reported that court documents indicate the homeowner used a knife.

Police said they already wanted the 41-year-old intruder — also a Lindsay resident — for unrelated offenses at the time of the incident. Police said they charged the intruder with possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose; break, enter, and theft; mischief under $5,000; and "fail to comply probation."

Police said the intruder will be held in custody pending a bail hearing when he's released from the hospital. CTV News, citing court documents, said Michael Kyle Breen's criminal record includes prior break-and-enter charges.

The incident got the attention of Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who said the charges against the homeowner indicate “something is broken" in the system.

"I know if someone breaks into my house or someone else's, you're gonna fight for your life," Ford added. "This guy has a weapon. You're gonna use any force you possibly can to protect your family. I'm telling you, I know everyone would."

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Indeed, observers have been delivering a steady barrage of barbs against police on social media for charging the homeowner. Here's a sampling of comments underneath a completely unrelated post on the Kawartha Lakes Police page on X:

• "Any idea why it's illegal to defend yourself/home from an intruder with a known criminal history?" one commenter wrote. "The whole world is waiting to hear some dumb-ass woke excuse for Canadas suicidal empathy."
• "Which one of you dufus cops charged the guy for defending his home from a felon?" another user wondered. "The world can't wait til trial to see who it was and if it was your town's dingbat policy or his own personal nincompoopery. Every line of your trial will be scrutinized online. Congrats. Yer famous."
• "Shame on you Kawartha cops," another commenter declared. "If you did your job in the first place you wouldn't have a wanted criminal running free breaking into people's houses. Way to alienate the public, especially those like me [who] back the blue."
• "So if a wanted criminal broke into one of your officer's houses, you'd advise them to just bend over and take it? Would you help the thief pack up your belongings?" another user asked. "Biggest chicken s**t act I've read in the news in a long time … and in this day and age, that's saying something."

The invectives apparently hit cops so hard that the Kawartha Lakes chief of police found it necessary to fire off a scolding message to the public on Facebook, calling the criticism "unjust and inaccurate."

Chief Kirk Robertson added that while it's lawful in Canada for individuals to use reasonable force to protect themselves and their property if they believe they are facing a threat, the "law requires that any defensive action be proportionate to the threat faced. This means that while homeowners do have the right to protect themselves and their property, the use of force must be reasonable given the circumstances."

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A pair of Blaze News writers who live in the Great White North offered their thoughts on the matter as well.

"If an intruder breaks into a person's home, the homeowner should not have to consider the intruder's feelings when protecting their property or family," Andrew Chapados said. "Ontario, and Canada as a whole, needs to introduce the castle doctrine as soon as possible."

Joe MacKinnon concluded the following: "Canadians voted in the same government that unlawfully declared martial law against peaceful protesters, shrugged off church burnings, stigmatizes lawful gun owners, pushed blood libels, strained the country with unprecedented amounts of unassimilable foreign nationals, and routinely euthanizes its most vulnerable citizens. I highly doubt that there will be sustained backlash now over the prosecution of a man who woke up to find a wanted thug in his apartment and acted defensively. Canada's criminal justice system not only gives certain races preferential treatment in terms of sentencing but — as evidenced by this case — holds the lawful to a higher standard than criminal elements. It's an increasingly unworkable system where the good are punished and the bad are rewarded."

Indeed, this wasn't the first time something like this has happened in Canada.

Back in January 2024, police in Peterborough, Ontario — which is about 45 minutes east of Lindsay — charged the victim of a bat attack with aggravated assault after the victim allegedly took the bat from the attacker and hit him with it several times.

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In that case, the public also got angry at cops for charging the victim — and Police Chief Stu Betts, like his counterpart on the Kawartha Lakes, took a defensive posture and called the criticism "unfair."

The Toronto Sun reported in April 2024 that the crook who hit the clerk with the baseball bat was sentenced to 18 months in jail, while the clerk who hit him back with the bat — international student Tejeshwar Kalia — faces up to 14 years in jail.

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The Sun said the video shows Kalia didn't gain control of the bat until he and the assailant were outside, and at that point Kalia lunged at the assailant, who was reaching for his pocket and said he would "stab me," Kalia added.

The paper added in a follow-up story that while GoFundMe canceled Kalia's crowdfunding campaign after it had raised $16,000 to help him pay for legal help as well as rent, food, and school expenses, GiveSendGo and its co-founder reached out to Kalia to try to help him. The Sun added that Kalia is out on bail but under house arrest, which means he can't work and has no money.

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