Nobody knows the stranger in the black balaclava. But the man has made 62-year-old George Wass fearful in his own home.

“I won’t smoke on the front porch anymore,” Wass said Friday night, hours after being released from hospital. He clutched a bloodied tissue in his right hand and breathed laboriously from the pain of his cracked ribs.

“He’s going to kill me.”

Along with 13 other people, Wass lives in a Parkdale boarding home for people with mental disabilities. He is now the fifth victim in what police call a series of targeted beatings of people suffering from mental disabilities.

Three of the victims, including Wass, live in the same assisted-living home near Queen St. W. and Jameson Ave. According to the operator of the boarding house, Wass has the IQ of a teenager; one of the other residents who got attacked is schizophrenic.

The other two victims live in a rooming house across the street. According to police, all five assaults happened within a hundred metres of each other. Nothing is ever stolen.

“The common thread between all these occurrences is that the victims have all had mental health issues,” said Staff Sgt. Mark Tilley. “The (victims) are all of a sudden blitzed by the attacker in a very violent manner and they’re beaten to the ground.”

“This is very disturbing to us to have this occur — just sheer violence against innocent people.”

Police say the same person is responsible for all five attacks: a stocky man, between 5-foot-8 and 6 feet tall, who wears a balaclava and sometimes travels on a bicycle. They have no suspects.

According to lead detective John Thibodeau, investigators have obtained grainy surveillance video capturing one of the beatings.

“Three people walked by while the victim was being assaulted and we’d like these people to come forward,” he said. “One lady actually stopped and stood there for a couple minutes watching the assault and then walked away. So we’d like to track that lady down.”

According to the woman who operates Wass’s boarding home, residents are prohibited from smoking inside the house so they often go out onto the porch. They typically smoke in groups but the attacks always happen when the resident is alone.

“This person might wait until there’s only one person there and then he attacks,” said Olive, who asked that her last name not be published.

Wass said he was smoking a cigarette on the front porch at around 7 a.m. Friday morning when he was suddenly rushed by a masked man.

“A guy come out and kicked me,” he said. “He got a ring on and he punched, all over my face.”

He said the beating was swift and wordless, leaving him with two cracked ribs, cuts to the head and face, and a black eye. Wass said he stumbled back into the house and that’s when his friend and fellow resident, 50-year-old Karen Polisak, called 911.

“I was nearly crying,” she said. “He had blood all over his face, he had blood everywhere. I was scared for him.”

According to police, the string of assaults began Jan. 4, when a 47-year-old woman walking on Leopold St. was kicked and punched in the face by a man on a bicycle. Five days later, a 53-year-old man was walking along the same street when he was attacked by the same man.

There were two more attacks — one on a 62-year-old man Feb. 25 and another targeting a 55-year-old man on March 3 —before Wass’s assault.

On Friday night, a forensic identification services truck sat parked outside Wass’s home. Inside, residents were jittery.

“Karen, don’t go outside,” George called nervously to Polisak, as she moved toward the front door with a cigarette.

The schizophrenic resident who was also beaten by the masked man said his attacker wanted money.

“He made a mess of me,” he said.

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Wass cried at times during an interview with the Star and said he was afraid to go to sleep. Police said the assailant threatened Wass he would come back.

Wass said he now wants to move out of the area.

“I don’t want to live here. I’m going to get hurt again,” he said. “I don’t know why the guy did that to me.”