Chronic offender arrested over stranger assault in Downtown Vancouver

A day after he was charged with assault with a weapon in connection with a violent attack on stranger, Mohammed Majidpour was arrested by Vancouver police and taken to jail.

A woman who was once stalked by the chronic offender hopes this time, Majidpour stays in custody.

Jamie Coutts recorded the 35-year-old following her through the streets of downtown Vancouver in March 2021.

“I went to step off the path to let him walk by, and he stopped as well. I said, 'You’re walking too close to me,' and he just stared at me weird,” said Coutts, who began recording the encounter hoping it would deter Majidpour, but it didn't.

That video went viral, and Majidpour was charged with harassing Coutts. But after pleading guilty to several unrelated charges, he was given a year of probation and the charge related to the stalking was stayed.

According to court documents, Majidpour violated his probation several times before allegedly attacking a 19-year-old female student with a pole in downtown Vancouver on Sept. 27. He also is alleged to have shouted racial slurs.

Coutts says considering his long record, Majidpour should never have been on the street in the first place.

“I think punishments need to be stronger, because people are being let free on the streets every single day, and it’s going to keep happening,” said Coutts.

She says a friend discovered a Vancouver woman being assaulted in the lobby of her apartment building on Sunday. The suspect was charged with assault, and immediately released by the courts.

“I’m shocked. It needs to be taken more seriously, because at this point it’s not,” said Coutts.

Former West Vancouver police chief Kash Heed agrees. “When you look at the court system that’s responsible for dealing with it and ensuring there’s a deterrent, it’s not there,“ said Heed.

The former solicitor general says prolific offenders don’t fear arrest because they’re rarely held in custody, and that needs to change.

“You cannot let these predators out there in society. Either institutionalize them or lock them up. You’re going to have to incapacitate these people for a period of time,” said Heed, adding “That’s a sad state we are in right now, but it’s a true state, and it’s the only way we are going to be able to protect society at this point.”

Coutts wants Majidpour to be kept behind bars for the latest assault with a weapon charge.

“I’m hoping they take it a little bit more seriously,” she said. “There is a long history of charges with that man.”