A man that Vancouver Police are calling a fugitive and violent offender was arrested in the Downtown Eastside after being found in hiding.
Police say that the 30-year-old man, who can’t be named because he was convicted as a youth, had been living under a false name in the Downtown Eastside for two years.
According to Vancouver Police, the fugitive was serving a ten-year, five-month jail sentence for multiple crimes. Those crimes included second-degree murder in Winnipeg, for which he obtained statutory release in March 2023 and was ordered to live in a halfway house in New Westminster.
When released, he was also serving a four-year sentence for aggravated assault on two correctional officers.
The man fled his halfway house in 2023, and members of VPD’s Fugitive Team arrested him over the weekend.
“The inmate disappeared from his halfway house within weeks of his release, and he’s been wanted Canada-wide since May 2023. A Vancouver Police investigation has now discovered the man has been hiding out in the Downtown Eastside since his disappearance,” VPD said.
“Investigators from VPD’s Fugitive Team, deployed as part of Task Force Barrage, took the violent offender back into custody on Saturday, near Gore Avenue and Alexander Street. Police believe he’s been living in the neighbourhood for the past two years, using a false name, and working part-time as kitchen staff in a shelter.”
Responding to a post on X about the incident, some expressed sympathy for the suspect, suggesting he was hiding his name to earn a living. In contrast, others condemned the criminal justice system.
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