A man charged in a high-profile stranger assault in downtown Vancouver is going to trial in both that case, as well as on two other assaults.
Zachary Tyrell Shettell, 30, has already pleaded guilty to a charge of theft of merchandise under $5,000.
Court documents, however, indicate Shettell pleaded not guilty Jan. 30 to three counts of assault.
It was in November 2024 that Vancouver Police Department sought help in identifying a suspect in a high-profile incident in the city’s downtown core.
Police released a video showing a man being punched in the face and knocked to the ground outside the Hudson’s Bay on West Georgia Street on Nov. 28.
The video shows the man walking down the street as a stranger waits and lunges towards him as the man gets closer. The man is punched to the ground, hitting his head on the concrete as the alleged assailant runs away.
A VPD officer was downtown Dec. 3 when he spotted the suspect near Library Square, police said.
Shettell was charged in that case and has remained in custody.
The case was in Vancouver Provincial Court for a pretrial conference Wednesday. A trial is scheduled to begin April 22.
Prior to that arrest, though, there were two other assaults for which Shettell was later charged.
The merchandise theft took place Nov. 30, 2024.
