Stranger assault appeal leads to new charge for ex-police volunteer

Dylan Brandon Gaita, 28, is seen in an image provided by the Vancouver Police Department.

A former police volunteer accused in a series of Vancouver stranger assaults has been charged in connection with yet another attack, authorities announced Monday.

The latest victim was walking on Commercial Drive at Charles Street on June 28 when he was allegedly shoulder-checked by a stranger, causing him to “lose his balance,” the Vancouver Police Department said in a news release.

Authorities said the man came forward after seeing a police appeal for information on a similar incident reported on Commercial Drive and East 1^st Avenue on June 29.

Dylan Brandon Gaita, 29, is now charged in seven alleged assaults over the last 18 months. Four were reported in 2025 — on Jan. 21, Jan. 29, April 26, April 29 — while the other three were reported this year, beginning on Jan. 31.

Most of the victims have been women, some of whom reported being struck in the chest or body-checked.

Police first announced charges against Gaita back in March, though the suspect was quietly charged in connection with one of the first assaults last August, months before he allegedly went on to attack another woman.

Gaita’s time volunteering with police — at a community policing centre downtown — ended in March 2023, long before his first alleged assault on an unknown woman. Police confirmed he underwent a criminal background check prior to his volunteering work.

Gaita remained in custody as of Monday afternoon, authorities said.