What We Know So Far About Marcella Zoia, 19, Charged In The Toronto Chair-Throwing Incident
Marcella Zoia, 19 years old, is facing criminal charges of mischief endangering life, mischief destroying or damaging property, and common nuisance after being accused of tossing a chair from a 45th-floor condo balcony in downtown Toronto. She is in the process of being charged after turning herself into the police.
Zoia surrendered to police on Wednesday morning at 7:00 AM at Toronto Police Service's 52 Division, according to Const. David Hopkinson. Footage recorded by Breakfast Television showed the young woman entering the police station before sunrise, wearing a black Moose Knuckles parka. The video shows her standing next to police inside the building through a window, wearing heavy makeup with her hair exposed.
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This weekend, a video surfaced on social media and was widely shared by users, showing a blonde woman, dressed in black, who was tossing a chair from a highrise building. The incident is believed by police to have occurred Saturday morning around 10:00 AM at a condo in the Harbour and York Street area, overlooking the Gardiner Expressway and Lakeshore Boulevard.
Police made an appeal to the public on Tuesday, asking for the woman to surrender. The police reportedly knew the woman's identity and claimed that no one was injured in the tossing incident.
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According to City News reporter Adrian Ghobrial, the suspect "has a legal historical past," suggesting that the 19-year-old has had trouble with the law prior to her chair-tossing incident.
Reddit users noticed that Zoia's appearance closely resembled that of the woman in an Instagram account which was circulated online, but has since been deleted. The name of the account was @marcellacz_.
"Once we had known who she was, investigators reached out to her and they started to make arrangements for her to turn herself in. We want to give her the opportunity to speak to her lawyer and then come in on her own volition," Hopkinson told the CBC.
"It's the best for everyone. This being a case where no one was injured, we didn't have any public safety concerns. It gave us leeway to try and treat her in the best possible way. And that's what has happened."
Neighbours of the condo unit where the video was shot claim it has been in use as a short-term rental unit. “We are outraged by the blatant disregard for community safety on display in the video,” Airbnb said in a statement on Tuesday. “We are investigating whether any Airbnb guests were involved and we will be suspending any guest’s accounts that appear to be connected to this incident.”