Police seek man wanted for assaulting four people on Scarborough TTC bus

An arrest warrant has been issued for Michael Ye, 37, of no fixed address, charged with four counts of assault following a series of incidents on a TTC bus in Scarborough on Wednesday, September 23.

Police responded to reports of assault on the bus near Huntingwood Drive and Midland Avenue. Through investigation, detectives determined there were four victims — three women and one man.

One victim was a teenage girl, a student at Iman Academy, who was punched in the face while getting off the bus. She was taken to hospital and suffered bruising around one eye. The other three female victims were South Asian.

Emad Ali, office manager of the North American Muslim Foundation, said after the first incident was made public, he was contacted by a second alleged victim who reported being assaulted by the same individual on the same bus. A third young woman was then allegedly targeted. When passengers alerted the bus driver to the third assault, the bus stopped and police were called. The suspect fled.

"A young woman should be able to get off a TTC bus, walk through her community, and return home without fearing that she will be physically attacked," Scarborough-Agincourt Coun. Nick Mantas said at a news conference Thursday. "No one in Toronto should feel unsafe because of who they are, how they dress, their faith, their culture, or their background."

Ali said the foundation remains open to the possibility that the assault may have been motivated by anti-Muslim hate and Islamophobia, given that all three girls were South Asian. "But we're keeping our options open. We don't want to prejudge the situation," Ali said. Police have not established a hate motive.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Toronto police.