High-risk offender released at Vancouver midway: police

Vancouver police are warning the public that a man convicted of randomly stabbing a stranger at a downtown Tim Hortons in 2022 will once again be living in a halfway house in the city.

David Richard Morin was arrested last month on a Canada-wide warrant for violating the conditions of his release. In a statement made by the Vancouver Police Department, it was stated that he was released again on Tuesday.

“VPD believes compelling reasons exist to warn the public that there is a high risk of serious harm to the public,” spokesman Sgt. Steve Addison said.

Morin pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three years in prison for aggravated assault for the unprovoked attack on a Mexican tourist. After spending two-thirds of this time behind bars, he was released in June 2024, and a similar warning came from the authorities.

Morin was 27 when the violent attack on a Tim Hortons in January 2022 was caught on the coffee shop’s security cameras.

At the time, authorities said the attack occurred “completely without warning” and that the attacker and his victim did not know each other and had little interaction before the stabbing.

It was learned that the injured person, who was taken to the hospital, had life-threatening conditions but survived.

Morin’s conditions of release include having no contact with the victim and no contact with anyone connected to criminal activity. He is also not allowed to purchase or consume drugs or alcohol and is prohibited from possessing weapons. Any relationship (sexual or otherwise) with a woman must be reported to the probation officer.

Morin will be bound by these conditions until June 2025.

CTV News Vancouver’s Ian Holliday has files.