The man who allegedly attacked a female tourist on the Seawall in Vancouver had been released from custody for a separate assault charge just hours earlier.
Peterhans Jalo Nungu has since been charged with assault causing bodily harm and released again, though this time he must live with his mother under house arrest and abide by a long list of conditions, which include attending a psychiatric assessment.
Court records show he was arrested for allegedly assaulting a peace officer, uttering threats, and uttering threats to burn, destroy or damage in connection with an incident that took place on April 13 at the Surrey home he shared with his wife and children. Police noted that that attack involved "an element of intimate partner violence."
Nungu appeared in court on the morning of April 14, and was subsequently released.
The incident on the Seawall took place shortly before 12:30 a.m. on April 15 in Coal Harbour between Stanley Park and the Convention Centre. The victim, a 34-year-old woman named Stephanie, recounted the horrific series of events in a video posted to her TikTok.
Stephanie that she had been walking back to her hotel at the end of her first full day in Vancouver after taking the train across Canada from her home in Toronto when she spotted Nungu standing atop a grassy knoll.
"I've honest to god never seen anything like that where it just felt like he was a predator and I was prey," she said, noting the look in his eyes. "He locked in on me and was like 'I'm gonna kill this girl'."
Stephanie said that when she attempted to walk past Nungu, he charged at her and slammed her onto the ground. She swung at him with a bag holding a pair of White Claws she'd bought earlier, and managed to get away.
Before long, however, Nungu caught up with her a second time and the attack continued. She said after attempting to call 911, he grabbed her phone and smashed it, then turned his attention back on her.
"The only way I can describe him was being, like, gleeful," she added. "He was taking great joy in hurting me ... I knew this person was not ok. There's no way to ration or reason with them."
Stephanie said when he got her down on her back, she began screaming and "kicking the f*cking sh*t out of him" until she eventually escaped.
Nungu caught up with her a third time, and Stephanie said that's when he "really started wailing." She noted that he specifically targeted her head, and at one point she blacked out from the impact.
Stephanie said she managed to fight him off and kept running, at which point she bumped into a group of men who turned out to be plain-clothed police officers. They apprehended him, and took a statement from her.
"It was a super terrible experience," she added, "but every single first responder that I dealt with, from the police to the EMTs, the doctors and nurses in hospital, and the victims services units I've been dealing with afterwards were so wonderful; I cannot be grateful enough."
Stephanie said she sustained multiple injuries to her entire body, including a broken nose.
Nungu is set to appear in court again on May 20.
