Bradley Grier said he had won $150,000 playing at an online casino, but none of his winnings were in the residence at the time of the Aug. 1, 2018 home invasion.
The 31-year-old was one of three Crown witnesses who testifed at the trial of Alexandre Ethier, 25, who pleaded not guilty to six charges in connection with the incident.
He faces counts of administering a noxious substance, theft (of a safe) while armed with an offensive weapon (bear spray), break and enter to commit the indictable offence of robbery, wearing a mask with the intent to commit an indictable offence, possession of a weapon to commit an offence and possession of a prohibited weapon while prohibited.
Grier said he doesn't remember who he shared information about his win with, "but I can recall telling somebody."
He told prosecutor David Didiodato that he woke up to the sound of something he had never experienced or felt before.
"It was super confusing. I said 'what the f..k, what the f..k'. A gentleman with a mask on was spraying me with a can."
Another masked person came into the bedroom of his Hergott Avenue home, and struck him in the face with a metal pipe, Grier said, adding he began screaming for his friend Dan, who also resided there
One of the men went to his closet, grabbed a safe and they ran out, he testified, suggesting they knew what they wanted.
"I could hear fighting and arguing in the hallway."
Superior Court Justice Edward Gareau heard the witness couldn't describe his two attackers, and indicated he didn't know Ethier at the time.
Grier also told the judge he can't remember what was in the safe at the time.
When his roommate came to his assistance "I told him I was robbed. I was jumping up and down and was covered with bear mace."
He said he then "stupidly" took a shower — something that made things worse because the mace ran into his face and other body parts.
"Every time I screamed blood kept coming out of the cut by my eye," he said, indicating that after 20 to 30 minutes he had called an ambulance.
During cross-examination by defence lawyer Jennifer Tremblay-Hall, the complainant agreed he hadn't told the Ontario Provincial Police who these people were because he didn't know.
Grier also agreed the police had found a significant amount of narcotics and money in his bedroom.
Tremblay-Hall pointed out the men didn't take the drugs or money.
"They're bad thieves," he replied.
When she referred to photos police had taken of the drugs and the money, he said he had no idea how much money or drugs were in his home at the time.
The court also heard from Daniel Ducharme, who had moved into his friend's three- bedroom residence on July 31.
The 32-year-old man testified he went to bed about 1:45 a.m. and later awoke to Grier "yelling my name and bloody murder."
Ducharme said his eyes were burning, he could smell something and "could see the shape of someone" who obviously was standing there.
He described how he got up, "charged like a football player," tackled the person, who wrestled with him for a minute and then dropped what sounded like a metal pipe.
"I ended up on the floor and he ran down the stairs.
When he went to help his friend, Ducharme said Grier was "bleeding from his face, everywhere, his eyes were bugging out of his head and he was yelling, wondering what the f..k was happening to him."
Grier went to shower, and the witness said after he checked on him, and "knew Brad was alright" he decided to look for their dogs, after noting the front door had been "blasted open."
Ducharme told Gareau his dog was like "my child" and "I was wondering where my child was."
When he was unable to find the canines after two and a half hours, he noticed the police were at the home and didn't return there because he didn't want to deal with them, he said.
During cross-examination, Ducharme said he didn't know about the drugs that had been found in the residence.
He also told Tremblay-Hall he has no recollection of seeing Ethier there.
The third Crown witness to take the stand was OPP Const. Brandan Leeson, one of the first officers at the scene that morning.
He arrived there with his partner at 4:05 a.m. after a 911 call about "someone screaming and saying they were dying."
The five-year officer said he could hear a panicked, screaming man when he arrived there and "could smell the over-powering odour of pepper spray.'"
When he entered the home, Leeson said he could see the naked man running back and forth on the top floor, tried to calm him down and called an ambulance.
His partner discovered a canister of bear spray on the grass by the steps of the house, he testified.
Leeson agreed with the defence that they didn't locate any masks or weapons with blood on them at the scene.
Tremblay-Hall asked about a police photograph that showed a plastic tote with all kinds of drugs and money, a cardboard box containing marijuana and a backpack with money protuding out of it on Grier's bed.
He said these items weren't on the bed, but were near it when he was at the residence.
Officers had gone back to the home with a search warrant, and he wasn't involved with that, Leeson said.
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