Durham police are searching for suspects following two home invasions in Ajax and Pickering, per DurhamRegion.com.

• Two home invasions reported in Ajax and Pickering
• Durham Regional Police are actively searching for suspects
• Incidents occurred in the GTA (Durham Region)

Durham Regional Police are investigating two home invasions in the Ajax and Pickering area. Home invasions—forced entry during occupied hours—represent a particularly urgent vulnerability for residential properties in Durham Region. Front-door and entry-point forced entry remains the most common vector in the GTA; intruders typically exploit weak strike plates, hollow-core frames, and single-point deadbolts that yield to shoulder or kick pressure within seconds. Door fortification using heavy-gauge strike-plate reinforcement, structural-screw frame anchoring, and multi-point lock geometry significantly resists forced entry and adds critical delay. Layered protection—combining door reinforcement with security window film on adjacent sidelights and accessible windows—denies the intruder a quick secondary entry if the primary door resists. Physical delay is the core defence: every second of resistance buys time for occupants to call police, activate alarms, or move to a safe room. In a home-invasion scenario, those seconds can mean the difference between a failed attempt and a completed crime.

How Pickering typically gets hit.

Pickering's housing stock spans two distinct generations. The established neighbourhoods along the Liverpool Road corridor and Bay Ridges lakefront — built largely through the 1970s and 1980s — feature single-storey and two-storey detached homes with original frame construction, smaller windows, and rear yards that face the waterfront or neighbouring residential streets. Further north and east, the 1990s-to-2010s subdivisions in Amberlea, Rougemount, and Highbush introduced the wider-glass, deep-lot subdivision profile that is now standard across Durham Region. These newer builds typically include large rear patio doors, walkout basements, and attached garages — each a distinct entry consideration. The primary entry concern across Pickering's housing stock is the rear patio slider. On Bay Ridges lakefront properties, those doors face the lake path and waterfront trail corridor with minimal rear-neighbour visibility. On Amberlea and Rougemount subdivision builds, the rear-yard depth and mature screening mean rear glass can be approached with limited sightline exposure from the street. Garage man-doors on attached-garage builds are the secondary risk: builders spec these to interior-door standard, which leaves the frame and latch undersized for the job they actually do. Sidelight panels flanking front doors on newer-build executive homes round out the typical exposure profile.

Full Pickering service overview →

1. 01Install a reinforced strike plate with 3-inch structural screws into the door frame; test by pushing hard on the door edge to confirm frame rigidity.
2. 02Trim bushes and trees near entry doors to eliminate hiding spots and improve sightlines from the street and neighbouring properties.
3. 03Ensure exterior lighting covers all entry points and activates at dusk; motion-sensor lights deter approach and alert occupants to activity.

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