The manhunt for a 24-year-old man wanted in a fatal stabbing in the city’s east end last week and a string of violent incidents in Durham Region is over.
Toronto police say Anthony Olivera was found and arrested in Niagara Falls on Sunday. He has been charged with first-degree murder in the fatal stabbing of 35-year-old Ashkan Pournasir-Roudbane.
Investigators said Pournasir-Roudbane and Olivera were allegedly involved in an altercation just after 11 p.m. on June 17 behind a plaza in the Danforth Avenue and Coxwell Avenue area when Pournasir-Roudbane was stabbed. He was taken to hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.
Police said the two men were not known to each other and that Pournasir-Roudbane was likely targeted because he was alone and in an isolated area.
“The victim was sitting down and had no chance to defend himself or flee,” said Det. Sgt. Henri Marsman on Friday.
At that time, police said Oliveira was known to use public transit throughout the Greater Toronto Area, including Toronto, Durham Region, and Peel Region, and that bulletins were sent to all transit agencies.
On Sunday, police said Olivera was located in the Falls Avenue and Clifton Hill area of Niagara Falls and was taken into custody by Niagara Regional Police.
Durham police said Oliveira was also wanted on assault and weapons charges in connection with an attempted stabbing in Oshawa earlier this month. They say charges will be laid in relation to that incident.
Oliveira was previously charged with aggravated assault two years ago for almost beating a man to death in Courtice, Ont. He turned himself in to police in that incident.
