The accused was charged with attempted fraud, robbery, assault, and multiple counts of failing to comply with probation after entering a stopped vehicle at a Toronto intersection, taking the driver’s phone, and assaulting him.
Identification was established through CCTV footage from a nearby restaurant, dashcam video from a passing vehicle, circumstantial evidence linking clothing found at the scene, and an incriminating in-court utterance.
The court held that the accused’s removal of the complainant’s phone from his hand constituted an indirect application of force amounting to assault, satisfying the elements of robbery under s. 343(c) of the Criminal Code.
The attempted fraud charge failed because the court was left with reasonable doubt as to whether the accused’s claim that the vehicle had struck him was false.
The accused was convicted of robbery and two counts of failing to comply with probation, while the assault conviction was stayed under the Kienapple principle.
