A woman visiting Vancouver was sent to the hospital after a man who was on probation with a history of four previous random assaults allegedly assaulted her in front of a cruise ship terminal.
According to a Vancouver Police Department news release, 30-year-old Massimo Rosario Falvo faces an aggravated assault charge after he allegedly attacked a 35-year-old tourist while she was walking near the cruise ship terminal at Canada Place in Vancouver before 9 am on Sunday.
“She was assaulted by a stranger. She was repeatedly punched and kicked in the face, and sustained multiple injuries that required medical attention at a hospital,” the report said.
Police said the attack was “unprovoked,” and the two did not know each other or had any previous interaction before the alleged assault occurred.
“We’re thankful to the bystanders who called the police so our officers could respond immediately and collect valuable evidence that led to the quick arrest of the suspect,” VPD Sergeant Steve Addison said in the statement.
Police said they obtained video of the suspect from the crime scene. The suspect, who had been known to police, was arrested at a residential building near East Pender Street and Columbia Street around 12:30 p.m. by a VPD canine officer and service dog.
Falvo appeared in court Wednesday and has a bail hearing scheduled for Oct. 22.
In an interview with Global News, Addison said the man had been convicted of “similar offences” and was on probation.
In 2024, Falvo was convicted for assaulting four separate individuals, each of which involved the suspect punching the victims in the head. After being convicted, Falvo was given three years of probation and one day in custody after spending 22 days in custody before sentencing.
“There’s an expectation that community, that if a person is arrested once, twice, three times in now four times for serious offences, violent unprovoked stranger attacks that there will be meaningful consequences,” Addison said in the interview with Global News.
John Rustad, the leader of the Conservative Party of British Columbia shared the news on X saying if he wins the election scheduled this Saturday, he will put a stop to the rampant random assaults.
“I find that completely unacceptable that we are allowing to see this sort of thing happening in our society. Tourists are feeling unsafe. Citizens are feeling unsafe. Businesses are being attacked. Businesses or having losses,” he said in a video posted to X. “This has to come to an end.”
Rustad blamed the current Premier of BC and his main competitor in the upcoming election for having soft-on-crime policies allowing attacks like this.
“David Eby’s catch and release policies in this province and his soft on crime (approach) have created this environment that is unsafe for people in this province,” Rustad said. “A conservative government will deliver law and order again in British Columbia. We’ll make sure these people are put behind bars where they belong. We’ll make sure that people can once again feel safe on the streets of British Columbia.”
Eby did not respond to True North’s request to comment.