A repeat offender who attacked a tourist in downtown Vancouver last year has pleaded guilty in the case, but to a lesser offence.
The attack happened on Oct. 13, 2024, as the 35-year-old victim was walking near the Canada Place cruise ship terminal.
Vancouver police said the woman was “repeatedly punched and kicked in the face, and sustained multiple injuries that required medical attention at hospital.”
Investigators said the attack was random.
Massimo Rosario Falvo was arrested at a residential building in the Downtown Eastside and initially charged with aggravated assault.
The BC Prosecution Service confirmed that he pleaded guilty on July 22 to the lesser offence of assault causing bodily harm.
A judge has ordered him to undergo a psychiatric risk assessment ahead of a future sentencing date.
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Falvo is well known to law enforcement and was on probation at the time of the October assault, according to Vancouver police.
He was convicted of assaulting four people in 2024, with each of the incidents involving him punching someone in the head.
He was sentenced to three years of probation and one day in custody, after credit for time served, in that case.
Even Falvo was surprised by that outcome, posting “3 years probation for 4 separate assault charges. I’m lucky I didn’t go to jail” on social media.
Falvo is due back in Vancouver provincial court on Sept. 29.
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