Startling new video has been released in an effort to identify two men responsible for a horrific downtown attack on New Year’s Day that left a lawyer in a coma until recently.
Toronto Police say the victim, David Shellnutt, was walking on Queen St. W., just west of Bathurst St., with a woman — reportedly his girlfriend — around 12:30 a.m. on Jan. 1 when the assault unfolded and was captured by a nearby security camera.
A “verbal interaction” occurred between Shellnutt, the woman and the occupants of a blue Dodge Charger, Det. Scott Allan, of 14 Division, said Thursday, adding the men in the car may have made “a lewd remark” to the woman.
As the car stopped at a nearby red light moments later, Shellnutt is seen in the video grabbing a bag of garbage from a trash pile on the sidewalk and tossing it in the direction of the Charger.
Allan said two passengers exited the vehicle, rushed Shellnut and began a physical altercation.
During the assault, one man punches Shellnut in the head “causing him to go rigid and fall backwards onto the concrete,” he said. The victim struck his head on the sidewalk as he fell.
In the video, Shellnutt is clearly out cold as a second man punches him in the face.
Allan said the blow smashed Shellnutt’s head into the concrete yet again.
The assailants quickly jumped back into the Charger and the driver took off south on Bathurst St., then east on Adelaide St.
Shellnutt suffered a serious head injury and was rushed to the hospital in critical condition.
Still in hospital but now out of his coma and slowly recovering, the 36-year-old social-justice lawyer posted a message — with “some help” — earlier this week on a GoFundMe page set up by friends to ease his financial burden because he has no short-term or long-term disability benefits.
“I am walking now but still in pain and intubated,” Shellnutt writes. “It is becoming clear that though I’m progressing well it will be a long road of recovery and rehabilitation.
“Your support of this campaign has made this path ahead of me that much smoother and reduced my stress significantly. It is, and will always be, impossible to say thank you enough,” he adds.
Allan said Shellnutt does not face charges for tossing the bag of garbage.
And he urged anyone who recognizes the assailants in the video to come forward and help police identify them.
One man is described as 25 to 35 years old, about 6-foot-1, with a medium build, dark brown hair worn in corn rows and a pencil beard. He wore a grey coat over a black hooded top, black pants or jeans with rips on the front of the legs, white socks and black running shoes with blue soles.
The second man is also thought to be 25 to 35 years old, about 5-foot-9, with a medium build, short dark brown receding hair, and a goatee and moustache. He wore prescription glasses, a black waist-length coat over a black hooded top, medium blue jeans with rips on the front of the legs and light blue or navy running shoes with white soles.
The vehicle police are looking for is believed to be a 2019 Dodge Charger SXT with an unknown Ontario licence plate.
The colour of the car, B5 blue, is “unique” and it may be a rental, Allan said.
Anyone with information with information is asked to call police at 416-808-1400 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477).
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