
Man charged with assault after attack on Jewish father in Montreal caught on video
Sergio Yanes Preciado was charged with assault causing bodily harm, and appeared briefly before a judge from a detention centre in Montreal's north end.
The Crown has objected to his release, and he is scheduled to return to court Wednesday for a bail hearing.
Police say the 32-year-old father was assaulted on Aug. 8 while he was with his young children in Dickie Moore park in the borough of Villeray—St-Michel—Parc-Extension.
They say the victim was sprayed with a bottle of water and when he tried to confront the accused he was pushed to the ground, punched and kneed before his assailant fled on foot.
The incident was partly captured on video, and the accused was arrested on Monday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 12, 2025.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Toronto Sun
2 hours ago
- Toronto Sun
Defence pushes back in 'Creeper Hunter' intimidation trial
Jason Nassr can't take back the words he said during a testy cross-examination two years ago. Jason Nassr leaves the courthouse in London on Oct. 30, 2023. (Derek Ruttan/The London Free Press) Jason Nassr can't take back the words he said during a testy cross-examination two years ago. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account But Superior Court Justice James Stribopoulos must decide at Nassr's trial this week if the 45-year-old self-styled child predator vigilante suddenly invoked the name of an assistant Crown attorney's child at his 2023 trial to strike fear in the prosecutor and interfere with his ability to do his job. In closing arguments Tuesday, assistant Crown attorney Thomas Mack argued Nassr knew what he was doing, while defence lawyer Ingrid Grant suggested Nassr spoke in anger without having a chance to complete his point and give context to his comment. Nassr, creator of the now-defunct Creeper Hunter TV website, went on trial Monday for intimidating a justice participant – namely, the assistant Crown attorney who prosecuted him two years ago. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. In a heated cross-examination after Nassr testified in his own defence, the prosecutor suggested part of Nassr's motivation to have highly sexualized text conversations with adult strangers – while pretending to be a young girl – was sexual gratification. 'I know you have a kid named (child's name),' Nassr said to the prosecutor, adding, 'And I know . . .' before he was cut off by Justice Alissa Mitchell, who sent the jury out, admonished him for his comment and conduct, and suggested he could face a contempt charge if he kept it up. That exchange came at Nassr's first trial in early 2023 over his activities as an online vigilante who claimed to ferret out suspected child predators by posing as a young woman on adult dating sites, then after piquing someone's interest he shifted the highly sexual conversation to texts, in which he would claim to be a 12- or 13-year-old girl. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. All this activity was recorded by Nassr. The ultimate goal was to set up a face-to-face meeting where Nassr would film the 'gotcha' moment, then edit together a website episode, including the names, ages and hometowns of the targets. His text exchanges with a 49-year-old London-area man, 10 months after Nassr first had a text conversation with the man, sparked a police probe. The man denied sending the texts, telling Nassr his phone had been stolen. But police were called to investigate and the man took his own life soon after. After a five-week trial, a jury convicted Nassr of extortion, harassment by telecommunications and two counts of child pornography through written materials. He received a two-year conditional sentence, including 18 months of house arrest, followed by two years of probation. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Read More Nassr has appealed the verdicts and sentence. His trial this week is expected to end Wednesday. The Crown called only the prosecutor and Nassr opted not to call any evidence. Mack argued that evidence points to one conclusion: 'Mr. Nassr intended to create a state of fear in (the prosecutor) . . . to impede him in this line of cross examination that Mr. Nassr found particularly objectionable.' In the exchange before the comment, Nassr, who Mack said already had a perceived beef with the prosecutor from previous dealings, was seething that the prosecutor would call his sexuality into question. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The prosecutor testified Nassr lowered his voice, looked him in the eye 'in almost a cold and calculating manner' before invoking his child's name. The Crown doesn't think Nassr was trying to derail the trial or force the prosecutor off the case, but wanted to 'create a state of fear' to stop the line of cross-examination, Mack said. There was no explanation why Nassr knew the child's name and the prosecutor knew Nassr was 'extremely adept at locating targets, . . . able to intrude digitally into people's lives and . . . went to significant lengths to extort, harass and shame targets.' The prosecutor testified he was stunned by the comment, needed time to compose himself and invoked security protocols for his family. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'I think (the prosecutor's) reaction is the natural consequence of somebody looking a parent in the eye during an acrimonious proceeding moments after yelling at them, . . . and telling them that they know your child's name for no apparent reason,' Mack said. But Grant argued there's no way of knowing what Nassr meant because the judge cut him off. 'We know exactly what Mr. Nassr said, but . . . we don't know what he was going to say. He did not finish his sentence,' she said. He was making a point, she said, likely 'something about him being accused of being what I'm going to call 'pedophile adjacent' and that he in some way is turned on sexually by pretending to be a child and getting adult men to engage sexually with him.' The follow-up might have been the prosecutor wouldn't stand for being accused of sexual impropriety involving children, Grant said. It might have been an innocent follow-up. 'But he is expressing something and we cannot infer this sort of sinister intent when we have only this partial statement,' she said. Nassr was 'speaking off the cuff,' Grant said. 'We're talking about cross-examination. We're talking about a person who is upset, who's not contemplating the niceties of what he's going to say.' jsims@ Toronto Maple Leafs Columnists World Toronto & GTA Crime


Winnipeg Free Press
2 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Impaired driving causing death charges laid against B.C. woman after fatal crash
OLIVER – A 30-year-old woman from Oliver, B.C., faces three charges a year after a fatal crash on Highway 97. Police say Vanessa Lameiras was arrested on July 31, one year after the crash that claimed the life of a 39-year-old man in the South Okanagan. The BC Highway Patrol says in a statement that Lameiras faces charges of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death, and two counts of impaired driving causing death for allegations she was impaired by both alcohol and methamphetamines at the time of the crash. Police say the charges come after a nine-month investigation by officers. The crash happened on the morning of July 31, 2024, when a Ford Explorer collided with a Toyota Echo on the highway, killing the driver in the Toyota. BC Highway Patrol says the accused first appeared in court last week, and online court records say she's expected to appear again Aug. 20. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 13, 2025.


CTV News
20 hours ago
- CTV News
Man charged after Jewish father attacked in Montreal; accused to undergo psych evaluation
A screenshot of a video showing an attack on a father in front of his children in Dickie Moore Park on Friday, Aug. 8, 2025. (Source: X/Mayer Feig) A young man accused of beating a father in front of his children in Montreal last week will undergo a psychological evaluation after being charged this week. Montreal police arrested 23-year-old Sergio Yanes Preciado of Montreal on Monday following the Aug. 8 attack. Part of the incident was captured on video, which showed a suspect repeatedly punching a man on the ground as young children stand nearby. The suspect then appears to throw the victim's kippa to the ground before leaving. Preciado was formally charged Tuesday with one count of assault causing bodily harm under section 267 of the Criminal Code. The Crown prosecutor objected to his release from custody and requested he be evaluated to determine whether the accused understands the charges against him. Michael Morena, a legal aid lawyer designated by the court to represent Preciado, said his client will be evaluated 'to see to make sure that he is fit to stand trial. That is, that he understands what's going on and to see if there are any mental health issues that could be influencing the file and that should be explored more in detail through the progress of the case.' Sergio Yanes Preciado Sergio Yanes Preciado, 23, has been charged with one count of assault causing bodily harm. (Source: LinkedIn) The attack on the father, who is Jewish, was widely condemned by members of Montreal's Jewish community, who called it an 'unprovoked' and 'horrific crime' that has left them shaken. Neither Montreal police nor the prosecution were able to definitely say what the motive behind the attack was. The person who posted the video on social media was Mayer Feig, a spokesperson for Montreal's Hasidic community. He told CTV News on Monday that the person who originally filmed the video was a Muslim woman, who shared the recording with the victim. 'She would like to remain anonymous but the victim wants to relay his appreciation for her sharing the video so [it] could have been shared and ultimately apprehend the suspect, who committed this horrible crime,' Feig said in an interview. 'I think as a community we should appreciate that, you know what, we might have differences, when something happened it was recorded and was able to be shared with the world, so we can see what happened.' Still, members of the city's Jewish community can't shake the impression that the attack was a hate crime. Police say the victim has been released from hospital with serious facial injuries that are not life-threatening. Meanwhile, the accused is expected back in court on Wednesday. Other leaders also denounced the attack, including Prime Minister Mark Carney, Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante, and Quebec Premier François Legault. On Monday, Israel's foreign minister, Gideon Sa'ar, also reacted to the attack, saying in a post on X that he is 'concerned about the rise of antisemitism against the Jewish community in Canada.' He called on the Canadian government to not tolerate antisemitism, adding that he has extended an invitation to the father and his family to visit Israel.