A man who pleaded guilty to aggravated assault following an unprovoked stabbing attack on a Mexican tourist at a Vancouver Tim Hortons in 2022 has been re-arrested under a Canada-wide warrant after failing to comply with the conditions of his early release, police said.
David Richard Morin was taken into custody on Oct. 28 at his halfway house in Vancouver, the Vancouver Police Department said in a press release. Morin was on parole, but a national warrant was issued for his arrest after he allegedly breached some conditions of his release, including abstaining from drugs or alcohol, police said.
Morin was granted statutory release by Correctional Service Canada earlier this year after serving two years of his three-year jail sentence, according to officials. At the time of his release, Vancouver Police issued a public warning, saying the 30-year-old Morin posed “a high risk of significant harm to the community” and “compelling circumstances exist to warn the public that he will be living in Vancouver.”
Morin pleaded guilty in June 2022 to aggravated assault in the random stabbing of a Mexican man visiting Canada at a downtown Vancouver Tim Hortons in January 2022. The 25-year-old victim received life-threatening injuries but survived.
According to provincial court records, charges against Morin date back to 2012 and include convictions in Williams Lake and Prince George for theft, robbery, assault causing bodily harm, sexual assault, unlawful confinement or imprisonment, and assault with a weapon.
Morin remains in custody, police said.
His release conditions included prohibitions on consuming, purchasing, or possessing alcohol or non-prescribed drugs, associating with anyone involved in criminal activity, contacting the victim of the 2022 attack, and possessing knives except for food or work. He was also required to report relationships with females to his parole supervisor.
In 2023, police said about one random attack per day takes place in Vancouver, down from 1.8 stranger attacks per day in 2022 and 4.5 in 2021.
Officials say the decline is likely due to increased public awareness and more police funding.
