B.C. teen charged with aggravated assault in stabbing of Good Samaritan – BC

Six months after a Good Samaritan was stabbed while trying to help a security guard confront a group of suspected shoplifters in Vancouver’s Olympic Village, four young suspects – including two minors – have been charged.

A 16-year-old male youth from Surrey is accused of robbing the security guard and the aggravated assault of the Good Samaritan.

A female youth from New Westminster, also 16, is charged with theft under $5,000.

The identities of both minors are protected under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

Twenty-one-year-old Dennys Acuna Aros of Surrey is also charged with theft while Jonathan Noe Madera Almazan of Richmond, 18, is accused of theft and assaulting the Good Samaritan and the security guard.

“If we have teenagers out there committing serious crimes like this – what does that say about us as a society,” Vancouver Coun. Peter Meiszner said Monday.

Approximately half an hour before closing on Nov. 23, 2024, Legacy Liquor Store’s security guard attempted to stop a shoplifter.

Vancouver police said a man passing by intervened and was stabbed.

The 63-year-old victim required surgery for a severed artery.

“It was described to me as an arterial bleed,” Sgt. Steve Addison told Global News at the time. “Blood gushing out of his wrist or his arm.”

The four suspects were arrested hours later on the Granville Strip and released on undertakings to appear in court at a later date.

Madera Almazan appeared in court on May 22 and was released from custody with another court appearance scheduled for June 12.

The other three are wanted and have yet to appear in court.

A warrant is outstanding for both minors, the BC Prosecution Service confirmed, while police said Acuna Aros is wanted B.C.-wide.

“It’s incredibly frustrating that people are sometimes being released the same day or the next day,” said Meiszner in an interview. “This is why we need bail reform and reform to our criminal justice system and honestly, I don’t know how much more it’s going to take.”

Over a span of seven days earlier this month, Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim said the city saw three incidents involving repeat violent offenders.

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On May 16, a senior suffered head injuries after police said he was knocked to the ground in an unprovoked attack.

The suspect, Derrick James McFeeters, 40, has a long criminal history including convictions for manslaughter, assault causing bodily harm, and uttering threats to cause death or bodily harm.

On May 19, police said a woman was robbed and sexually assaulted at knifepoint by a stranger in a Stanley Park washroom.

The suspect, 35-year-old Hartley Ronald Duckhorn was previously convicted of sexual assault with a weapon, unlawful confinement, and robbery in a July 2020 attack on a woman near the King George SkyTrain Station in Whalley.

On May 22, notorious sex offender Randall Hopley was re-arrested by the VPD hours after he obtained statutory release from prison.

“There’s a revolving door,” said Sim in an interview Monday. “So if we don’t get action from the federal government on this topic, you will see more of the same and we will not be able to solve any of the challenges that we see on the street in Vancouver and the place won’t be safe.”

Sim will be in Ottawa next week meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney and pushing for immediate bail reform.

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