A 55-year-old homeless man who was found in a downtown doorway after being stabbed Wednesday morning is recovering.
Dan Vo, a Vietnamese man who speaks little English, frequents the 1600 block of Government Street near the McPherson Playhouse theatre.
He was stabbed sometime in the early morning hours but did not report it, instead falling asleep in a doorway. It wasn’t until about 8 a.m. that a passerby noticed he was bleeding from the abdomen and hand.
Vo was taken to hospital with injuries described as non-life threatening.
Investigators were in the area Wednesday canvassing for witnesses and looking for video surveillance footage. No arrests have been made.
“I was saddened when I heard this,” said Victoria Coun. Charlayne Thornton-Joe, who has tried to help Vo in the past. A few years ago, she and a friend who speaks Vietnamese tried to persuade him to go to a shelter on one of the coldest nights of the winter. He refused.
“I tried to bring him a coat, but he turned it away,” she said.
Homeless advocate Rev. Al Tysick said Vo is respectful and moves his cart and sleeping materials out of doorways when asked.
Several people in the Chinatown community bring him food, but he does not use food banks or other social services.
“He’s a very private man. He’s never caused any trouble,” Thornton-Joe said.
