A 26-year-old man has been charged following three anti-Asian “hate-motivated assaults,” Toronto police say.
All three incidents took place at subway stations around Toronto between April 9 and April 11.
On April 16, police told Global News the assaults targeted members of the Asian community. All three incidents involved a male suspect reportedly spitting at a victim. In one instance, police said the suspect yelled racial slurs at a woman.
Investigators said in a release on Friday that after “consultation with the service’s specialized hate crime unit, the assaults were being treated as suspected hate crimes.”
Police said officers arrested Joseph O’Sullivan Martinez on Wednesday.
He was charged with two counts of causing a disturbance, four counts of assault, 10 counts of failing to comply with probation and five counts of breach of recognizance.
He was scheduled to appear in a Toronto court on Friday.
Anyone with information about these or any other incidents is asked to contact police at 416-808-1100 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-8477.
—With files from Ryan Rocca