Search warrant executed in Lindsay results in four arrests
On the morning of Friday, July 31, members of the Kawartha Lakes Police Service Criminal Investigation Branch, assisted by the KLPS Entry Team, executed a search warrant in the area of William Street North and Bond Street in Lindsay.
As a result of the investigation, four individuals were arrested and police seized $12,155.00 in Canadian currency, 65g Fentanyl, 142.4g Cocaine, and 15.6g of Crack. The estimated street value of the narcotics seized is $28,552.00.
The four parties were taken into custody and charged with the following offences.
Accused 1 – Female, 46 years old of Lindsay, ON
Possession of property obtained by crime over $5000 Sec 335(a) CC
Possession for the purpose of trafficking x3 Section 5(2) CDSA
Accused 2 – Male, 49 years old of Lindsay, ON
Possession of property obtained by crime over $5000 Sec 335(a) CC
Possession for the purpose of trafficking x3 Section 5(2) CDSA
Accused 3 – Male, 52 years old of Cambray, ON
Possession of property obtained by crime over $5000 Sec 335(a) CC, Possession for the purpose of trafficking x3 Section 5(2) CDSA
possession of a weapon for dangerous purpose Sec 88 CC
Carrying concealed weapon Sec 90 CC
Unauthorized possession of a weapon Sec 91(2) CC
fail to comply Undertaking Sec 145(4)(a) CC.
Accused 4 – Male 55 years old of Lindsay, ON
Possession of property obtained by crime over $5000 Sec 335(a) CC
Possession for the purpose of trafficking x3 Section 5(2) CDSA
failing to comply with probation order Sec 733.1 CC.
When police withhold an accused person’s name and address, it limits public transparency and community safety. A strong rebuttal argues that withholding this information harms the public’s right to know, reduces accountability, and stops neighbors from spotting potential risks. Considering this the story does not help the community in the least.
As a Lindsay taxpayer, I am watching our hometown change before our eyes—and not for the better. Over the last decade, residents have faced a steady succession of violent incidents, drug investigations, robberies, and weapons calls.
William Street North, Lindsay Street North, and the Bond Street area near the river illustrate the problem. A review of publicly reported incidents reveals a persistent pattern of serious police and emergency responses:
July 31, 2026: A KLPS search warrant near William Street North and Bond Street resulted in four arrests, weapons-related charges, and the reported seizure of $12,155 in cash and approximately $28,552 worth of fentanyl, cocaine, and crack.
December 2025: A man was stabbed multiple times near Wellington and William streets. Police subsequently executed a search warrant and laid charges that included cocaine possession.
October 8, 2025: A man was found injured outside a William Street North home. Another man was charged with assault causing bodily harm and mischief.
August 1, 2025: A William Street North drug raid resulted in four arrests and the reported seizure of $5,025 in cash and $21,600 worth of fentanyl and cocaine. Local reporting was later updated to state that all charges were withdrawn.
July 23, 2025: A reported theft at a William Street North store was followed by an unwanted-person call at a nearby apartment. A man was charged with theft, assaulting a peace officer, and probation violations.
May 2025: A man using a wheelchair was stabbed multiple times near Kent and William streets. A suspect was arrested and charged.
March 3, 2025: A 52-year-old man suffered a serious stab wound to the head at an apartment complex. A 29-year-old man was subsequently charged with attempted murder. The 29-year-old was recently released from custody.
February 12, 2025: A man was stabbed multiple times inside a William Street North apartment building. An 18-year-old was charged with aggravated assault and weapons offences.
August 2024: Police investigated allegations that a woman had been confined, threatened, and sexually assaulted at a William Street North residence. A search warrant resulted in the reported seizure of fentanyl and cocaine and charges that included forcible confinement, threats, and drug trafficking. No sexual-assault charge was listed publicly.
January 2024: A stabbing inside the KLH Housing Willabond Apartments at 111 William Street North resulted in charges against three people.
November 1, 2023: Police investigated an alleged housing-unit takeover near William and Bond streets in which a resident was reportedly held against their will. A firearm was seized and charges were laid.
October 16, 2023: Police responded to a reported machete assault at a William Street North residence. The victim was treated at hospital.
October 2023: Two teenagers were charged after a hatchet was allegedly brandished during a robbery at a William Street North business.
July 2023: A man was reportedly kicked and stabbed during an unprovoked encounter near William Street North.
February 18, 2023: Police responded to an attempted robbery at a William Street North business in which the suspect indicated that she had a gun. Police later reported finding a knife.
January 25, 2023: A William Street North business was robbed by a woman who allegedly displayed a knife and threatened an employee.
January 11, 2023: A William Street North business was broken into through its front door and cash was stolen.
October 9, 2022: A man suffered a stab wound during a fight near Kent and William streets.
October 9, 2022: A separate break-and-enter at a William Street North business resulted in a cash box being stolen.
September 20, 2022: Police responded to an alleged pepper-spray assault on William Street North.
April 2022: Police investigated an armed robbery at a William Street North convenience store.
March 2, 2022: Fortify Protection withdrew its guards from the KLH Housing building at 68 Lindsay Street North. The company cited safety concerns following an earlier weapon-brandishing incident and the January shooting at the property.
January 30, 2022: Police responded to a shooting at 68 Lindsay Street North. A victim was taken to hospital with a gunshot wound that police described as non-life-threatening.
2021–2022 (KLH Housing 68 Lindsay Street North): Then-KLPS chief Mark Mitchell reported 716 police visits to the property in 2021 and 529 in 2022. He said no other building in Lindsay kept KLPS busier. Those numbers include police outreach and community-engagement visits and should not be interpreted as 1,245 separate crimes.
October 2021: A William Street North business was robbed by a suspect who indicated that he had a firearm.
September 2021: Gunshots were reported on William Street North. A victim was later located at a Toronto-area hospital with injuries described as non-life-threatening.
March 2021: A robbery at a William Street North business involved a struggle between the suspect and an employee.
February 2021: Police investigated a robbery at another William Street North business.
November 2020: A man suffered serious stab wounds at a William Street North residence. Two people were charged, including one accused who subsequently faced an attempted-murder charge.
April 2020: A knife was reportedly brandished during a robbery at a William Street North convenience store.
September 2019: A man suffered a gunshot wound following a disturbance at the Wedgwood Park Apartments at 128 William Street North.
May 2019: Five overdoses during one weekend prompted an investigation into alleged sales of “purple heroin”—reported to contain heroin and fentanyl—from a William Street North residence.
January 2019: A woman was charged after allegedly threatening to set fire to a William Street North rooming house.
November 30, 2018: A shooting at a William Street North apartment building left a 27-year-old man seriously injured. Three men were subsequently charged.
September 2018: Police investigated an armed robbery at a William Street North convenience store.
March 2018: A Scarborough man was arrested during a William Street North drug investigation. Police reported seizing cocaine, heroin, and marijuana with a combined estimated street value of approximately $8,000.
These are more than 30 publicly reported incidents and enforcement actions concentrated along a relatively small group of Lindsay streets. They include shootings, stabbings, robberies, weapons allegations, drug-trafficking investigations, and an extraordinary volume of police visits to one supportive-housing address.
The reports do not prove that every incident is connected, or that an organized criminal group controls this corridor. However, former KLPS chief Mark Mitchell publicly acknowledged gang activity and firearm seizures in and around the KLH Housing building at 68 Lindsay Street North. That makes it reasonable for taxpayers to ask what police, housing administrators, and City Council are doing to address repeat offenders, drug trafficking, housing-unit takeovers, and the victimization of vulnerable tenants at all of the KLH Housing buildings.
Residents also deserve evidence—not speculation—about whether Lindsay’s role as host of the Central East Correctional Centre contributes to local crime. Are people released or supervised in Lindsay without local housing, family connections, or support services overrepresented in these incidents? The public news reports cannot answer that question, but the province, police, and municipal authorities should be asked to produce the relevant data. If they are not overrepresented in the data, then disprove the sentiment with facts.
Then there is the cost.
The City reported combined KLPS and OPP policing costs of approximately $21.7 million in its 2025 budget. The KLPS portion was approximately $12.29 million, leaving roughly $9.41 million attributable to OPP policing. Using KLPS’s stated service population of approximately 29,000 and the 2021 municipal population of 79,247, that works out to a rough comparison of:
Approximately $424 per resident in the KLPS-served Lindsay/Ops area; and
Approximately $187 per resident in the OPP-served remainder of Kawartha Lakes.
In other words, Lindsay and Ops taxpayers were supporting policing costs on their municipal property taxes of approximately 2.3 times as much per covered resident as residents in the OPP-served part of Kawartha Lakes.
The difference is too large to dismiss.
For 2026, the KLPS operating-and-capital budget has risen to approximately $13.685 million—about $472 for each person in its stated 29,000-person service area. Meanwhile, Statistics Canada reports a 2025 Crime Severity Index of 84.93 for the Kawartha Lakes municipal police area, compared with 84.66 for Cobourg and 37.34 for Strathroy-Caradoc. CSI is a town-wide police-service measure, not a William Street neighbourhood measurement, but it reinforces the need for an honest discussion about costs, resources, and results.
We are paying more than twice as much per resident for municipal policing as residents in the OPP-served portion of Kawartha Lakes. Yet many Lindsay residents feel that violent crime, drug activity, and public disorder are becoming more entrenched.
Kawartha Lakes Council should therefore commission an independent, publicly released, data-driven comparison of KLPS and OPP policing—something that hasn’t been done since 2013. It should examine operating and capital costs (When will KLPS want a new Police HQ $$), staffing, response times, investigative capacity, community policing, expected transition costs, and access to specialized units. This is not an indictment of KLPS officers or their professionalism. It is a legitimate question about whether Lindsay taxpayers are receiving the most effective and sustainable policing model for what they are paying.
Simply stated: Are we bringing a knife to a gunfight? With the provincial superjail in our town, the increased influx of GTA-based crime, and the apparent vulnerability of social housing as a crime target, should we make Lindsay policing a provincial responsibility by uploading our crime challenges and associated costs to the OPP?
The OPP already assists KLPS in major investigations and possesses province-wide intelligence, tactical, canine, and specialized investigative resources. Council should determine whether contracting directly with the OPP for Lindsay policing—as it does for the rest of Kawartha Lakes—would provide better value and stronger access to those resources, or demonstrate publicly with current data why the existing model remains preferable.
Council should also examine extending Lindsay’s security-camera coverage north from the existing downtown system. They should evaluate additional fixed camera or licence-plate-recognition coverage along William Street North, Lindsay Street North, and the Lindsay Street North and Wellington Street bridges, with live video directly accessible at the police station. While any expansion must include clear privacy safeguards and operational reporting, trading a degree of public-space anonymity to make these Lindsay streets safer seems like a trade worth making.
Law-abiding taxpayers cannot be expected to fund ever-rising police budgets without measurable results and a transparent examination of alternatives. City Council, police leadership, provincial authorities, and social-housing managers must move beyond isolated responses and develop a coordinated, evidence-based plan for safer Lindsay neighbourhoods.