Charges withdrawn after fake horse head left at Calgary mayor's home
A stock photo of a horse mask. (Getty Images)
Charges against a Calgary man accused of leaving a faux horse head at the mayor's home have been withdrawn.
The latex horse mask, which police say was part of a costume, was left on Jyoti Gondek's driveway at around 3:30 a.m. on April 19, 2022.
Footage from a doorbell camera allegedly showed the incident unfolding, including the moment when an anti-vaccination sticker was left on the mayor's house.
Police said at the time that the mayor didn't witness the incident in person, and that it was her driver that spotted the costume horse head.
Now a common cultural reference, the idea of using a horse head to intimidate someone originated from a scene in 1972's The Godfather, in which a decapitated horse head is left in movie producer Jack Woltz's bed after he refused to cast Don Corleone's godson in his film.
A 43-year-old man was originally charged with one count of criminal harassment and one count of stunting in a motor vehicle.
Court documents obtained by CTV News show the charges were withdrawn in June 2022.
The man who formerly faced the charges declined to comment on the incident.
CTV News has reached out to the mayor's office for comment as well, and will update this article with their response.
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