A Vancouver man recently sentenced for attacking a stranger last fall, and assaulting a supportive housing worker earlier this year, has now been charged with assaulting a peace officer.
Described by police as a "high-risk violent offender," Shakwan David Kelly, 30, was arrested by Metro Vancouver Transit Police (MVTP) on Aug. 27, following an "interaction" outside of Waterfront Station in Vancouver.
According to police, an officer with MVTP approached Kelly to discuss his open drug use, when the man allegedly charged at the officer, striking him in the face and body.
The officer was treated in hospital for minor physical injuries.
Police said Kelly was tasered during the incident, but the weapon had no effect and the man ran away.
Kelly was arrested a short distance away, with help from transit security officers and Vancouver police, and is scheduled to appear in court on Sept. 4.
This is just the latest run-in with police for Kelly.
On July 16, he was sentenced to 11-and-a-half months in jail, plus two years' probation after pleading guilty earlier this year to two other charges of assault, uttering threats and breaching a release order.
And in March 2023, Kelly was sentenced to three years' probation after pleading guilty to four random assaults in 2022 that all took place within the span of one month.
His most recent appearance court was told that Kelly had refused his injection for schizophrenia and was subject to a Mental Health Act (MHA) warrant.
Both Crown and defence counsel assured the court that Kelly would be taken to hospital upon his release from custody.
Court also heard Kelly was on a wait list to get into the Red Fish Healing Centre, a provincial facility in Coquitlam for clients with complex and concurrent mental health and substance use disorders.
Kelly's lawyer said the wait time to get into the 105-bed facility can be anywhere from two months to a year.
However, he added that the man's mother continues to support her son and is doing everything in her power to get him the help he needs.