A convicted killer from Alberta was arrested and released this week after allegedly skipping a sentencing hearing last month for a 2023 stranger assault in Richmond.
Vancouver police Sgt. Steve Addison confirmed Curtis George McCallum, 50, was taken into custody near Vancouver General Hospital at West 12th Avenue and Oak Street on Oct. 9 on five outstanding warrants.
An arrest warrant was issued for McCallum on Sept. 12, when he allegedly failed to appear in Richmond Provincial court for sentencing on charges of assault and mischief.
According to the BC Prosecution Service, the court had ordered a pre-sentence report with a psychological component after McCallum pleaded guilty in February to assault causing bodily harm in a random attack at a transit station last year.
On July 19, 2023, Metro Vancouver Transit Police responded to a report of an assault on the platform at the Bridgeport Canada Line Station in Richmond.
A man was waiting to board a train when he noticed another man pushing his way to the front of the line and elbowing several passengers in the process, said Const. Amanda Steed.
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The victim grabbed the suspect’s backpack and told him to be careful as other passengers were trying to board the train.
Police said after he boarded the train, the suspect turned around and punched the victim in the face, causing him to fall backwards out of the train and onto the platform.
Steed said the victim suffered significant facial injuries which required surgery.
McCallum was later arrested at King Edward Station in Vancouver.
In June, McCallum also pleaded guilty to a charge of mischief under $5,000 in connection with a Sept. 6, 2022 incident in Hope.
McCallum was sentenced to 18 months probation in December 2022 after pleading guilty to two counts of mischief to property over $5,000 in connection with a pair of downtown Vancouver bank vandalism sprees.
McCallum was captured on video smashing the windows of the same TD Bank branch at Hastings and Abbott streets on the edge of Gastown in September and October 2022.
The court heard the damage from the two vandalism incidents was estimated at upwards of $300,000.
McCallum’s criminal history dates back to 1992 in Edmonton.
In 2009, he was sentenced to nine years in prison for manslaughter and aggravated assault in the Christmas Eve 2006 killing of his aunt and the stabbing of her common-law husband.
After appearing in Richmond Provincial court Thursday, McCallum was released from custody with conditions.
His next appearance is scheduled for Oct. 22 to set a new date for his sentencing hearing.
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