Police say they have charged a man in connection with several hate-motivated assaults in both Scarborough and Toronto, including one against a woman with her baby.
Toronto police said on Sept. 29 officers responded to a call about an assault in the Celeste Drive and Kingston Road area just after 2:30 p.m.
Investigators said a woman was walking with her three-month old baby when a man came up and started yelling racial slurs before throwing a water bottle at them.
The suspect then picked up the water bottle and threw it at them a second time, hitting the woman in the face and spilling water on the baby before fleeing the area.
On Oct. 17, Christopher Otoo, 27, was charged with two counts of assault with a weapon. Investigators then found Otoo to be involved in four other incidents dating back to June 2020.
On one occasion on June 7, at around 11:50 p.m., police said a man was sitting on a bus in the Markham Road and Eglinton area when a man approached him yelling racial slurs before he spat on him and hit him the head, knocking off the victim’s turban.
In another incident on July 22, police said two people were travelling southbound on a TTC bus towards Kennedy Station when a man came up to them yelling racial slurs.
The suspect then punch one victim in the ear and the other in both the ear and eye. Investigators said the suspect also tried to remove a Patka from one of the victims before fleeing the area.
In response to the other incidents, investigators charged Otoo with six more counts of assault.
He is scheduled to appear in a Toronto court on Thursday.
Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 416-808-4300 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-8477.