Toronto Chef Says He Was Attacked While Waiting For The Streetcar & 'Felt Terrified'

A Toronto chef has taken to social media to report that he was a victim of a "hate crime" while waiting for a streetcar earlier this week.

Chef Abel Páez of Classico and Classico Vegano took to Instagram to share the harrowing incident that he said left him "terrorized" and physically injured.

Páez said the incident took place on Sunday, July 17 while he, his partner and his brother-in-law were waiting for the streetcar at Bathurst and College streets.

The group was on their way to Bloor Fest, and as they were chatting Páez said he was suddenly tackled by an "angry white man."

Páez described himself as six feet tall and 250 pounds and said that to tackle him, his attacker had to have used a considerable amount of force.

"I'm also Mexican and I look 'Latino.' Right after he tackled me he went on to tackle another guy, who happened to be Latino as well,"' said Páez in a statement on Instagram.

After the attack, Páez said he confronted the man, who he described as a "tall 6'2 white male" with "long black hair" and "facial hair."

"His excuse was that we were blocking his way, but the reality is that there's no excuse to go assaulting people on the street."

The situation escalated as the pair threw insults back and forth, according to Páez, who decided to call the man out for "being racist."

According to Páez, the man then said, "I have to lecture you guys, I'm tired of you guys thinking you can do whatever you want," before the man poured his drink on him.

Páez said he then tried to grab the man and "beat him," but bystanders from Sneaky Dee's quickly rushed in and calmed him down by urging him that the man "wasn't worth it."

The alleged attacker then went north on Bathurst, Páez said.

"I didn't know what to think, I was full of adrenaline, I didn't [know] where to go, what to think, what to do."

Toronto police investigation

After debating whether or not to call Toronto Police Service, a few friends convinced Páez that it was the right thing to do.

"I'm not going to let this slide, I'm going to file the report and press charges against my attacker."

He said it took 15 minutes for his call to go through to someone and that he waited another 30 minutes for police to arrive before finally giving up and leaving. He said he only got a call three hours later asking if he was still at the scene.

In an update posted on Instagram on Tuesday, Páez claimed that two days after the incident, he still hadn't been able to give a statement to the police.

TPS told Narcity that they do have a report on file that is being investigated that "may be related to this incident." However, they are unable to confirm whether it is the same incident.

"The information that is relayed in the post does not accurately depict the information that was provided in the report."

Narcity reached out to Páez for comment but did not get a response in time for publication.

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This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.