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Vancouver police have announced charges against a man they allege stabbed a stranger and threatened four others in a string of incidents, leading to a flurry 911 calls across downtown Wednesday.

From Monday to Wednesday, there have been seven stranger attacks, prompting Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim to hold a press conference with Chief Constable Adam Palmer.

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Kent Douglas Meades, 46, has been charged with assault with a weapon, assault and uttering threats.

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Neades was released from Fraser Regional Correctional Centre six days ago, after serving a jail sentence for uttering threats against his family members and federal politicians. He was to be on probation, but failed to report to his Surrey probation officer the morning of the attacks, police allege.

Palmer said that according to the arresting officers, Neades appeared to have mental health problems.

The violent disturbances began at 8:40 a.m. when a man reported being attacked by a stranger while walking near Seymour and West Cordova streets. Minutes later, a 911 caller reported a man had entered a coffee shop near Harbour Centre and was involved in a disturbance that resulted in a glass window breaking and customers inside being scared for their safety.

Two hours later, Palmer said a man walking near Main and Prior streets “was chased by a stranger who lunged at him with a knife and was yelling at him.” The intended victim ran away.

Then a 61-year-old man was stabbed after a 911 caller reported that a suspect was chasing people around with a knife in the 800-block of Cambie Street, between Robson and Smithe streets. The victim has since been released from hospital.

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“We still think its possible that other people may have encountered this fellow and perhaps are victims of a crime,” Palmer said. “Shortly after he was arrested, we learned that the suspect was involved in an additional assault, which is still under investigation.”

That same morning, another suspect was arrested in an unrelated incident in East Vancouver, where several 911 calls reported a man waving a knife around on the corner of Clark and Hastings street.

Abolfazi Amini, 36, has been charged with weapons and assault offences. He is currently in police custody.

On Monday, Vancouver police issued a public warning after a woman in her 50s was attacked by a stranger in Stanley Park. At 10:45 a.m. on March 18, a woman called 911 to report that she had been attacked while walking on Lees Trail just north of Lost Lagoon.

“We are in the early stages of this investigation, and there is some details we are unable to share,” police said Monday.

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Palmer and Sim said that more needs to be done to address what they say are gaps in B.C.’s criminal justice and public health systems that leave chronic offenders with “extreme” mental health symptoms out on the streets.

“People walking around the community who have mental health issues, that is not the sole responsibility of the police — holding someone in custody, that is up to Crown counsel and the judicial system,” Palmer said.

While Sim stood by his campaign promise to hire 100 more police officers and additional mental health professionals as a way to clamp down on crime in the city, he said the “revolving door” of chronic offenders needs to be quelled by bail reform implemented at a federal level.

“We provide tools to the Vancouver Police Department and they work incredibly hard to make our streets safe, and then, people (charged with crimes) are then released into the streets. It’s challenging — it feels like we’re wasting a lot of time.”

Palmer said Vancouver police have observed a decrease in early 2024 of the number of serious assaults occurring across the city compared to last year. He attributed the decline to Sim and his ABC Party council majority’s “proper” funding of the Vancouver Police Department, including the hiring 100 additional officers.

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“It has given us more tools to combat crime and address important public safety issues,” Palmer said.

sgrochowski@postmedia.com

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