Several charges have been passed against a 61-year-old man who allegedly drove a pedestrian and then stabbed him at a gas station in East Vancouver this week.
Witnesses told CTV News that on Wednesday morning they saw a van veer off at a high-speed pedestrian outside Esso on Hastings and Skeena streets, sending the victim flying through the air.
They said the driver got out of the vehicle and attacked the victim with a knife and a larger blade weapon. He has serious injuries but are not life threatening.
“I don’t really understand the reason for the stabbing,” said witness David Leonardo, who added that the attacker appeared to be in a problematic state. “I looked him in the eye and he just wasn’t there.”
Authorities said the suspect and the victim did not know each other, describing the alarming incident as “seemingly random and unprovoked”.
The attacker also chased other people through the gas station and punched another, according to police.
The video obtained exclusively by CTV News showed viewers trying to defend themselves during the altercation, including a man who picked up part of a blue trash can to prevent a possible attack.
Several police officers are seen with their weapons unarmed and a suspect is being held.
Police on Thursday announced that Leslie Dale Chudek, without a fixed address, has been charged with aggravated assault, assault, threats and operation of a means of transportation in a manner dangerous to the public.
Speaking to the legislature on Thursday, BC Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth was asked about the alarming attack and other seemingly random violent crime cases, and assured the public that the police “are doing their best to make sure Vancouver is a safe city. ” “
“Obviously you’re worried about the victims,” Farnworth said of Wednesday’s incident. “In that case, they will recover, but obviously the trauma of this would be absolutely horrible and terrifying.”
Town hall. Sarah Kirby-Yung said she was disturbed by the furious video.
“It was terrifying. I literally stopped what I was doing to watch the video in disbelief. It was hard to imagine that this was something that was happening in our city,” Kirby-Yung said.
As part of the minority party in the council, he believes the mayor and other councilors have not taken the issue of unknown attacks seriously enough.
“I think we really need to acknowledge that this problem is serious and that people are looking for us to dare and try to address … the root cause of some of these problems,” said Kirby-Yung, who would like to see harsher penalties for repeat offenders.
Former Vancouver Police Department Drug Unit Commander Kash Heed agrees.
“We’ve tried rehab, we’ve tried drug programs, we’ve tried all this, and there’s no difference. And these are the people we have to throw in jail and, using metaphor, we have to throw away the key, “Heed said.
The suspect in the gas station collision does not fit this mold. Chudek has no criminal record in BC and Vancouver Police spokesman Const. Tania Visintin told CTV News that the accused has had “very little police interaction over the years.”
Heed says it’s an anomaly and believes that cracking down on chronic offenders is the key to reducing unknown attacks in Vancouver.
“We have to shut them down because at least if they’re in jail, we’ll suspend their actions,” Heed said. “They don’t go out and commit crimes.”
Chudek is in custody awaiting his next court appearance.