By: Mike Anderson
A tense police standoff that lasted more than eight hours on Sunday at the Driftwood Motel on Dalton Rd. in Sutton ended when a York Regional Police tactical squad stormed a motel room to arrest Troy Ling, who allegedly assaulted a 24-year-old woman during the early morning hours.
However, much to their surprise, Mr. Ling was nowhere to be found.
According to YRP Sgt. Drew Leonard, YRP has issued an arrest warrant for Mr. Ling, who faces an assault charge.
But, while known to the police, Sgt. Leonard said Mr. Ling doesn’t pose a threat to the public.
According to Adrian Ulanowicz, the motel’s assistant manager, Mr. Ling, 28, a resident of Newmarket, booked the room, unit eight, the day before and had a female guest stay the night.
According to Steven Kuperstein, who was staying next door in unit seven, an argument broke out between Mr. Ling and his guest just after 5 a.m.
A short while later, the young woman, clothed only in a towel, escaped out the back bathroom window, and climbed over Schell Lumber’s fence before making her way to Mr. Ulanowicz’s back door.
Mr. Ulanowicz said she accused Mr. Ling of punching her in the face.
“I could see her left eye was definitely injured and was bleeding a little bit,” said Mr. Ulanowicz, who gave the young woman a blanket to cover-up. “I called the police for her, and she spoke to them.”
A total of seven uniformed and five tactical officers, as well as the YRP canine unit, responded to the 9-1-1 call.
Sgt. Leonard said tactical officers were called-in as the victim had mentioned that Mr. Ling might have a firearm.
Sgt. Leonard said that tactical officers couldn’t enter the motel room until a search warrant was issued, which occurred just before 3 p.m.
Exactly how Mr. Ling, who left his vehicle parked at the motel, an older Cadillac Escalade SUV, evaded capture is not clear. “We believe he left before officers arrived,” Sgt. Leonard said.
However, according to Mr. Ulanowicz, a YRP officer told him that they had spoken to Mr. Ling through his window after arriving on the scene.
“I’m just really surprised because he’s not in there. A police officer told me they had a conversation with the guy through the window, and now I’m being told five of them went in, and there’s not even a guy in there,” he said.
“I’m not going to say someone didn’t do their job. I’m just confused.”
While it’s possible that Mr. Ling may have evaded police by escaping through the back window, YRP has not confirmed this occured.
Mr. Ulanowicz, although grateful that nobody got seriously hurt, questioned why the police standoff lasted so long, mostly as Mr. Ling was not in the room.
“This was pretty disruptive. We lost a lot of money,” he said. “We had early reservations. They were supposed to be here at 10 a.m., but we never even got a call. I’m sure they saw this and just kept driving,” he said.
“But money’s not the biggest issue. It could have been a lot worse.”
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