A high-risk sex offender who was the subject of a Canada-wide warrant has been arrested, Vancouver police say.
Jonathan Cardinal was taken into custody on Sunday night.
Two uniformed officers noticed the 29-year-old as he walked through the city's Downtown Eastside.
"Cardinal initially provided officers with a false name, however he was arrested after officers discovered his identity," Sgt. Jason Robillard said in a statement issued the next morning.
He remains in custody, Robillard said.
The search for the offender with a history of targeting women began last Tuesday when he failed to return to his Vancouver halfway house.
Cardinal was serving a long-term supervisory order (LTSO) after being convicted of to two violent sexual assaults that occurred in 2010 in the Yukon.
An LTSO is an option available to the courts to extend the length of time an offender is supervised by Corrections Canada after their initial sentence is complete.
They're often issued in cases where a subject is considered to pose a significant risk to re-offend.
Parole board documents obtained by CTV News last week suggest Cardinal repeatedly broke the rules upon his release. The board suggests a pattern of repeated drug use, no-shows and the pushing of boundaries.
It wrote that his case is so severe, only one halfway house in Vancouver was willing to take him.
"You are a high risk to sexually reoffend," read the documents. "Reports indicate you have difficulties with impulse control, self-control and substance abuse.
During his trial, the judge heard Cardinal was born to drug-addicted parents who lived in the Downtown Eastside. He was sexually abused, used drugs, and spent his childhood in and out of foster care.
He is alleged to have restrained and choked two women outside of bars after inviting them to smoke a joint. He was 20 at the time of the crimes.
Cardinal pleaded guilty and was sentenced in 2013 to 52 months in prison. He was also given the designation of high-risk offender for seven years.
