Calgary

Man charged after fake horse's head left on Calgary mayor's driveway

A Calgary man who is accused of leaving a latex horse's head and anti-vaccine sticker at Mayor Jyoti Gondek's home is facing criminal charges.

43-year-old who is known to police has been charged with criminal harassment and stunting

A man has been charged after a fake horse head was left on Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek's driveway last month. (Mike Symington/CBC)

A Calgary man who is accused of leaving a latex horse's head and anti-vaccine sticker at Mayor Jyoti Gondek's home is facing criminal charges.

The 43-year-old man has been charged with criminal harassment and stunting. Police say he is known to them. 

Around 3:30 a.m. on April 19, a man showed up at a home in the northwest carrying something under his arm, according to police.

He left an anti-vaccine sticker on the front door and then left a costume horse head on the driveway. 

The man then drove "erratically" up and down the street revving his engine and leaving skid marks on the road, said CPS spokesperson Emma Poole.

The next morning, a person who attended the mayor's home noticed the sticker and costume head and police were called. 

Investigators seized security footage from doorbell cameras on the street, which led to the arrest of a man.

'It was done to send a message'

The horse's head scene in the 1972 movie The Godfather has become an iconic moment in movie history.

The placement of a decapitated horse's head on the bed of one of the characters was meant as a threat to show the Corleone Mafia family meant business.

"We know exactly what that horse head stands for from old movies," said Poole. "It was done to send a message."

A spokesperson for the mayor said Gondek would not comment on security issues.