A Vancouver man is facing multiple assault charges after allegedly attacking five women and causing thousands of dollars in property damage during a 40-minute crime spree.
Cole Stanley Martin, a man Vancouver police describe as “well known” to them, appeared in court on Monday. He is charged with two counts of assault with a weapon, one count of assault, one count of assaulting a police officer, three counts of uttering threats, and one count of breaking and entering.
The 38-year-old was arrested after a brief struggle with police on Saturday afternoon in the Fairview neighbourhood, where he reportedly chased several women and threatened others with broken glass.
According to a police news release, Martin — who was possibly in psychosis at the time — began smashing glass and destroying property near the Vancouver General Hospital around noon on Saturday.
He then allegedly approached a woman in her car, “made shooting gestures,” and tried to open its door. When the woman drove away, Martin reportedly chased her vehicle down the street.
About half an hour later, he allegedly chased joggers near the entrance of a nearby apartment building. Those joggers hid inside, but Martin allegedly smashed the front door in an attempt to pursue them, police said.
Afterward, police believe Martin accosted a female witness to that incident, cornering her and demanding her phone. He then allegedly approached another woman who was walking on Oak Street, grabbed her hair and punched her.
She escaped with help from a bystander and both fled to a nearby building “with a number of other frightened people,” reads the news release. Martin is believed to have chased them through the hallways and stairwells of the building, threatening them with a large piece of broken glass.
“He was also using that broken piece of glass to threaten other women that he saw in the building,” Const. Tania Visintin said in a Sunday news conference.
“So far from witness accounts, he was running by men on the street and his target was females.”
Martin was arrested near Oak Street and West 10th Avenue and brought to the hospital to be treated for cuts from the glass, and because police thought he may be in psychosis.
Vancouver police are still looking for additional victims and witnesses to come forward in the case, noting Sunday there were at least 30 minutes when officers did not know where Martin was.
Anyone with information about the incident, cell phone or dashcam footage is asked to contact the detachment at 604-717-4021.