A mentally-ill drug abuser who has actively hidden from Burnaby community care teams has been jailed for just under two years for three separate attacks on women, including one that saw him randomly smear feces on the face of a teenage girl.
Fitsum Wode Zewdu, 33, was sentenced to 695 days in prison for three separate incidents and charges of assault, sexual assault and committing an indecent act. After credit for time served, the sentence amounted to an additional 228 days in custody.
Zewdu approached a random 17-year-old girl on June 27, 2025, while walking near a SkyTrain station, grabbing her from behind and “pushing and jamming feces into her face and mouth,” said a recent court ruling.
The girl screamed and ran to a nearby home for help. When police arrived, they located Zewdu approaching a second woman who was pushing a stroller. He was asking the woman to smell the feces on his hands.
Zewdu was arrested and released on July 9, 2025, with the condition of staying at a recovery house, which he left within a few hours of arrival.
Two days later, Zewdu was thrown out of a strip club. Once outside, he approached a woman and threatened to kill her and beat the “shit” out of her. Throughout the encounter, he had his penis exposed.
Zewdu was also sentenced for an earlier sexual assault at a SkyTrain station on Oct. 13, 2024, that saw him approach a woman waiting for a bus and slap her buttocks. The assault happened just after midnight and there were very few people in the area at the time.
Zewdu, who came to Canada from Ethiopia at the age of three, has been diagnosed with schizophrenia, antisocial personality disorder and borderline personality traits. He’s been addicted to crack and methamphetamine for nine years.
He has the support of his family, who presented a letter to the court “stressing that he was raised in a strong Christian family.”
That support, said Judge Reginald Harris, has not appeared to help.
“Simply, while living with them and despite their support, Mr. Zewdu continues to reoffend and repeatedly fails to comply with court conditions designed to assist in his rehabilitation and protect the public,” said Harris.
Zewdu has several other past convictions, mostly targeting women. On Jan. 22, 2020, he was caught naked and masturbating at a library computer.
On Aug. 23, 2023, he spat in a woman’s face on the Granville Mall. On Sept. 16, 2023, he approached a woman at a shopping mall and grabbed her by the hips and pressed his groin against her while saying “hey baby.”
He was sentenced to a 60-day conditional sentence for the 2023 attacks, and a month later, he was found outside and naked by police while breaking curfew. The sexual assault that saw him slap the buttocks of a woman at the bus stop also happened while on the same conditional sentence.
Within two weeks of being released on Dec. 17, 2025, after being arrested and sentenced for breaching conditions, he approached a woman from behind as she stood at a bus loop.
“Zewdu covered her mouth, he then dropped a cigarette down her top and whispered something about her licking his feet,” said the court ruling. “She pushed him away and Zewdu lowered his pants and started to masturbate.”
He was arrested and jailed for 91 days for that incident. Within hours of being released, he was caught masturbating at a SkyTrain station.
“I observe he committed offences within weeks and on two occasions within hours of his release from custody. This leads to the conclusion that custody minimally deters him,” said Judge Harris.
Harris noted that Zewdu is followed by Burnaby’s Assertive Community Treatment, the highest level of community care, but he actively avoids them.
“He is often hostile and aggressive, he misses scheduled appointments, he is not medication compliant, and police presence is required when administering medication,” Harris said.
Zewdu had been hospitalized multiple times due to mental health issues.
Judge Harris accepted most of the Crown’s sentencing proposal, calling the attack involving feces and the teenage girl “vile.”
“Common sense dictates that Zewdu’s conduct likely caused terror, created a fear of disease, hypervigilance, and concern about being out alone,” he said. “No doubt, his actions robbed the victims of feeling secure and to some measure limited their movement in the community.”
“Zewdu’s offences demonstrate a willingness to target women, and it appears that he offends when few people are around.”
Zewdu was sentenced to 15 months in prison for the feces attack, 60 days in prison for slapping the woman’s buttocks at the bus stop and 180 days for threatening to kill the woman outside the strip club while exposing himself.
Fitsum Wode Zewdu, 33, was sentenced to 695 days in prison for three separate incidents and charges of assault, sexual assault and committing an indecent act. After credit for time served, the sentence amounted to an additional 228 days in custody.
Zewdu approached a random 17-year-old girl on June 27, 2025, while walking near a SkyTrain station, grabbing her from behind and “pushing and jamming feces into her face and mouth,” said a recent court ruling.
The girl screamed and ran to a nearby home for help. When police arrived, they located Zewdu approaching a second woman who was pushing a stroller. He was asking the woman to smell the feces on his hands.
Zewdu was arrested and released on July 9, 2025, with the condition of staying at a recovery house, which he left within a few hours of arrival.
Two days later, Zewdu was thrown out of a strip club. Once outside, he approached a woman and threatened to kill her and beat the “shit” out of her. Throughout the encounter, he had his penis exposed.
Zewdu was also sentenced for an earlier sexual assault at a SkyTrain station on Oct. 13, 2024, that saw him approach a woman waiting for a bus and slap her buttocks. The assault happened just after midnight and there were very few people in the area at the time.
Zewdu, who came to Canada from Ethiopia at the age of three, has been diagnosed with schizophrenia, antisocial personality disorder and borderline personality traits. He’s been addicted to crack and methamphetamine for nine years.
He has the support of his family, who presented a letter to the court “stressing that he was raised in a strong Christian family.”
That support, said Judge Reginald Harris, has not appeared to help.
“Simply, while living with them and despite their support, Mr. Zewdu continues to reoffend and repeatedly fails to comply with court conditions designed to assist in his rehabilitation and protect the public,” said Harris.
Zewdu has several other past convictions, mostly targeting women. On Jan. 22, 2020, he was caught naked and masturbating at a library computer.
On Aug. 23, 2023, he spat in a woman’s face on the Granville Mall. On Sept. 16, 2023, he approached a woman at a shopping mall and grabbed her by the hips and pressed his groin against her while saying “hey baby.”
He was sentenced to a 60-day conditional sentence for the 2023 attacks, and a month later, he was found outside and naked by police while breaking curfew. The sexual assault that saw him slap the buttocks of a woman at the bus stop also happened while on the same conditional sentence.
Within two weeks of being released on Dec. 17, 2025, after being arrested and sentenced for breaching conditions, he approached a woman from behind as she stood at a bus loop.
“Zewdu covered her mouth, he then dropped a cigarette down her top and whispered something about her licking his feet,” said the court ruling. “She pushed him away and Zewdu lowered his pants and started to masturbate.”
He was arrested and jailed for 91 days for that incident. Within hours of being released, he was caught masturbating at a SkyTrain station.
“I observe he committed offences within weeks and on two occasions within hours of his release from custody. This leads to the conclusion that custody minimally deters him,” said Judge Harris.
Harris noted that Zewdu is followed by Burnaby’s Assertive Community Treatment, the highest level of community care, but he actively avoids them.
“He is often hostile and aggressive, he misses scheduled appointments, he is not medication compliant, and police presence is required when administering medication,” Harris said.
Zewdu had been hospitalized multiple times due to mental health issues.
Judge Harris accepted most of the Crown’s sentencing proposal, calling the attack involving feces and the teenage girl “vile.”
“Common sense dictates that Zewdu’s conduct likely caused terror, created a fear of disease, hypervigilance, and concern about being out alone,” he said. “No doubt, his actions robbed the victims of feeling secure and to some measure limited their movement in the community.”
“Zewdu’s offences demonstrate a willingness to target women, and it appears that he offends when few people are around.”
Zewdu was sentenced to 15 months in prison for the feces attack, 60 days in prison for slapping the woman’s buttocks at the bus stop and 180 days for threatening to kill the woman outside the strip club while exposing himself.
