A 23-year-old man has been arrested after being accused of throwing faeces at five people on three different occasions.
He allegedly threw liquefied faeces which he held in a bucket at passersby in three different locations between Friday afternoon and Monday night in Toronto.
The accused, Samuel Opoku was arrested in the Queen Street West and Spadina Avenue although his exact location of arrest was not disclosed by the police.
He was taken into the custody of the Toronto police's 52 Division on Tuesday at approximately 6 pm ET reports Canada’s Toronto CTVNews.
Opoku, charged with five counts of assault with a weapon and five counts of mischief interfering with property, has been scheduled to appear in a downtown Toronto courtroom at 10 am on Wednesday.
According to a news release on Tuesday, a man entered the John P. Robarts Research Library, at 130 St. George Street, on the University of Toronto downtown campus on Friday and poured a bucket of faeces over a woman and a child at a table.
The police added that on Sunday, a man entered Scott Library, at 4700 Keele Street, at York University and emptied a bucket of faeces over a man and a woman at approximately 5:00 pm.
In a third incident, around College and McCaul streets on Monday, a man approached a woman and emptied a bucket of faeces on her at around 11:55 pm.
A spokesperson for the Toronto Police Service, Const. Alex Li, addressed the situation on CBC Toronto on Tuesday night saying, 'It's disturbing. It definitely is. It's very disturbing. Let's just call it what it is. We are definitely, as an organization, taking this very seriously."
"I want to stress and thank the public for coming forward with information," Li said. "We've had calls. We've had information from the public with regards to these separate incidents."
According to Li, the investigation is just now taking off. He added that “our officers are going to do their due diligence and our forensic officers are going to work tirelessly to obviously find out exactly what this substance is. There will be testing done."
Toronto Mayor John Tory expressed relief in a tweet at the arrest.
Great work by @TorontoPolice arresting an individual in the “feces attacks” investigation. He can”™t face justice or be given help until apprehended and it seems our police have that in hand. I hope this arrest will help calm concern on campuses and across the city. https://t.co/AJ2kI6Y9Dt
— John Tory (@JohnTory) November 27, 2019
Li entreated any other victims to come forward and report their cases saying that, "there could be more charges laid if more victims come forward.”
Latest Stories
-
IMF board to disburse $360m to Ghana in December after third review
2 mins -
Former Bono Regional NPP organiser donates 13 motorbikes to 12 constituencies
8 mins -
Securities industry: Assets under management estimated at GH¢81.7bn in quarter 3, 2024
13 mins -
Gold Fields Ghana Foundation challenges graduates to maximise benefits of community apprenticeship programme
2 hours -
GBC accuses Deputy Information Minister Sylvester Tetteh of demolishing its bungalow illegally
2 hours -
Boost for education as government commissions 80 projects
2 hours -
NAPO commissions library to honour Atta-Mills’ memory
2 hours -
OmniBSIC Bank champions health and wellness with thriving community walk
2 hours -
Kora Wearables unveils Neo: The Ultimate Smartwatch for Ghana’s tech-savvy and health-conscious users
2 hours -
NDC supports Dampare’s ‘no guns at polling stations’ directive
2 hours -
Police officer interdicted after video of assault goes viral
3 hours -
KNUST’s Prof. Reginald Annan named first African recipient of World Cancer Research Fund
3 hours -
George Twum-Barimah-Adu pledges inclusive cabinet with Minority and Majority leaders
4 hours -
Labourer jailed 5 years for inflicting cutlass wounds on businessman
4 hours -
Parliament urged to fast-track passage of Road Traffic Amendment Bill
4 hours