A Vancouver man returns to court soon for sentencing after pleading guilty to charges of assault with a weapon and a robbery in a 2023 Boxing Day double stabbing in Olympic Village.
Sheldon Cefre Ilbegi-Asli was charged after two Good Samaritans received stab wounds after witnessing an alleged robbery, the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) said.
He pleaded guilty in Vancouver Provincial Court April 15 after amended charges were filed. The case was due in court July 22 for further dates to be set.
The incident began around 7:40 p.m. when two people agreed to meet in Olympic Village to conduct a Facebook Marketplace exchange.
The Vancouver seller believed he was meeting a legitimate buyer. The transaction turned violent when the supposed buyer deployed pepper spray and tried to flee without paying.
That’s when a number of witnesses stepped up, chased the suspect down, and subdued him until VPD officers arrived.
VPD spokesman Sgt. Steve Addison said the injured witnesses were making food deliveries at the time of the alleged robbery when they overhead someone calling for help and saw the suspect attempting to flee into a nearby taxi.
He said the pair prevented the man from getting in the cab, and with help from a third bystander, they gave chase and held him down until police arrived with handcuffs.
One food delivery worker was stabbed in the hand; the other was stabbed in the shoulder while attempting to stop the suspect from fleeing. Both men were treated at hospital.
The case was delayed when Vancouver Provincial Court Judge Gregory Rideout sent Ilbegi-Asli to an addiction treatment centre.
Judge John Milne repeated those orders May 3.
Ilbegi-Asli is also charged with mischief in connection with the April 25 damaging of a window belonging to someone with the same last name.
