Fugitive wanted on Canada-wide warrant arrested in Vancouver

People walk through a back alley in the downtown eastside area of Vancouver, on Sunday, Dec., 23, 2012. (Jonathan Hayward / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Police in Vancouver say a violent offender who was wanted on a Canada-wide warrant after fleeing his halfway house two years ago has been arrested in the city’s Downtown Eastside.

The 30-year-old man was serving a 10-year sentence for crimes including second-degree murder in Winnipeg when he earned a statutory release in March 2023, the Vancouver Police Department said in a news release Monday.

He was also sentenced to four years in prison for aggravated assaults on two corrections officers, according to police.

The offender, who cannot be identified because he was convicted as a youth, was released to a halfway house in New Westminster but he disappeared “within weeks,” police said.

Investigators say the fugitive had been living in the Downtown Eastside under an assumed name since his disappearance.

“Police believe he’s been living in the neighbourhood for the past two years, using a false name, and working part-time as kitchen staff in a shelter,” according to the release.

He was arrested Saturday near Alexander Street and Gore Avenue, police said.