Charges stayed against B.C. man accused in Elnaz Hajtamiri frying pan attack

A Delta, B.C. man accused of aggravated assault and conspiracy to commit an indictable offence in a 2021 assault had his charges stayed by the prosecution.

A Delta, B.C. man accused of aggravated assault and conspiracy to commit an indictable offence in the December 2021 assault and failed abduction attempt on Elnaz Hajtamiri had his charges stayed by the prosecution.

Jaspreet Singh, 26, was arrested two years ago in connection with a frying pan attack and alleged abduction attempt on Elnaz Hajtamiri in her underground Richmond Hill parking garage, weeks prior to Hajtamiri’s disappearance from a home in Wasaga Beach.

Singh had been charged with aggravated assault and conspiracy to commit an indictable offence in March of 2023 and was arrested in British Columbia, according to investigators.

Police said he and Sukhpreet Singh, who remains wanted on a Canada-wide warrant were involved in the failed kidnapping December 20, 2021. Hajtamiri was abducted by three men posing as police officers with a warrant for her arrest January 12, 2022, while in hiding with loved ones in Wasaga Beach.

The staying of charges comes as a preliminary hearing was set to begin in Newmarket this week. A staying of charges means the prosecution has paused the case and has up to one year to resume the charges.

Singh’s lawyer Andrew McKay confirmed but declined to comment on the staying of charges.

Singh is the fifth person accused in the case to have charges either stayed or withdrawn by prosecutors.

Two women, Dominique Ewan and Krystal P. Lawrence had their charges stayed in 2023 and 2024, respectively.

Adams Ankamah, also of Brampton, Ont., whom police believed was involved in Hajtamiri’s eventual abduction about 1200 days ago had his charges withdrawn by the prosecution in November.

Another man, Riyasat Singh, pleaded guilty to aggravated assault in the frying pan attack. His co-accused Harshdeep Binner had a mistrial declared earlier this month in Newmarket as Binner now applies for bail ahead of a new trial.

Two other men accused in the parking garage attack, Akash Rana and Harshpreet Sekhon remain before the courts.

Another man Deshawn Davis, also known as Thorobread, whom police have charged with kidnapping and is accused of being of one of three men posing as a police officer the night Hajtamiri was taken, was arrested by police in California. Davis was charged with murder in a Miami nightclub shooting while provincial police searched for him in Ontario and Quebec.

A publication ban prevents any evidence heard in court from being revealed.

Loved ones have not seen or heard from Hajtamiri since her disappearance Police believe Hajtamiri is dead.

Binner is scheduled to return to a virtual courtroom in the Superior Court of Justice in Newmarket Thursday. The allegations against him have not been tested in court.