A Vancouver man facing two charges of assault with a weapon from a 2023 Boxing Day double stabbing in Olympic Village may soon plead guilty, court documents indicate.
Sheldon Cefre Ilbegi-Asli was charged after two Good Samaritans received stab wounds after witnessing an alleged robbery, the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) said.
Ilbegi-Asli was due in Vancouver Provincial Court on April 15.
The incident began around 7:40 p.m. when two people agreed to meet in Olympic Village to conduct a Facebook Marketplace exchange.
The seller, a 36-year-old from Vancouver, believed he was meeting a legitimate buyer. The transaction turned violent when the supposed buyer deployed pepper spray and tried to flee without paying for the item.
That’s when a number of witnesses stepped up, chased the suspect down, and subdued him until VPD officers arrived.
Sgt. Steve Addison said the injured witnesses were making food deliveries at the time of the alleged robbery when they overhead someone calling for help and saw the suspect attempting to flee into a nearby taxi.
He said the pair prevented the man from getting in the cab, and with help from the third bystander, they gave chase and held him down until police arrived with handcuffs.
One food-delivery worker was stabbed in the hand, and the other was stabbed in the shoulder while attempting to stop the suspect from fleeing. Both men were treated at hospital.
The case has been delayed after Vancouver Provincial Court Judge Gregory Rideout sent Ilbegi-Asli to an addiction treatment centre in February.
