TORONTO

Meg Campbell could hear him coming.

She was on her way to work last Tuesday, crammed on a southbound train from St. George to St. Andrew station around 9 a.m. The iconic Santa hat was unmistakable. She decided to fix her eyes on an ad on the wall.

Campbell said she saw David Zancai — better known as Zanta, the shirtless busker who has been seen doing push-ups around the city — weave through the packed train with handwritten signs and purr at women. She said he yelled at one woman for looking down at her purse, ignoring him, and yelled about men looking at women who aren’t their wives or girlfriends and what women do to encourage this.

“You could feel people tense up as he got closer,” the 30-something CBC employee said. “When you’re a woman in close proximity to someone who’s yelling misogynistic things, it’s hard not to feel scared.”

Campbell wrote about her experience on Facebook and filed a report with the TTC Wednesday evening.

“To the man on the subway this morning who — after Zanta walked through our car verbally assaulting and threatening women — said, ‘That was entertaining’ to the people (men) around him: No. In fact, it was terrifying,” she wrote. “Did you notice the women around you did not look amused? Did you notice that one girl who was tearing up?”

This apparently wasn’t the first case where women have complained about Zancai, 47, on social media. But TTC spokesman Brad Ross said Campbell’s formal complaint is the only one the transit authority has received about Zancai in the past six months.

“Ew an old shirtless man in Union Station just purred at me,” @Jadeemark tweeted on Feb. 21. “He was wearing a Santa hat & followed me screaming for me to come sit on his lap so ‘Zanta’ could take care of me ... it honestly makes me feel so uncomfortable and unsafe ... I was literally cat called #catcallingsucks #dontpurratme.”

Zancai couldn’t be reached for comment through his Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Ross confirmed Zancai isn’t banned and said the TTC wouldn’t ban an individual from taking public transit “based solely on complaints of their behaviour.”

“For someone to have restrictions placed on them, however, the courts would need to do that. An individual would have to be arrested and have conditions placed on them as part of bail or upon conviction,” Ross said. “There was an old probation order requiring him to not contravene TTC bylaws, but that’s several years old now and no longer in force.”

Passengers who feel unsafe can press the emergency yellow strip on trains or report the problem to a TTC special constable.

“Reports of harassment on the subway today, however, are concerning and our special constables have been advised and will take appropriate action should they encounter (Zancai),” Ross said. “Special constables can transport individuals to the hospital under the Mental Health Act. It may not be banning access to the TTC that is needed, but, rather, seeing a doctor.”

A HISTORY OF ZANTA

— According to media reports, David Zancai fell 7.6 metres onto a stairwell while painting in 2000 and spent 23 days in a coma. Doctors told him he developed bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. It was during this period when the character of Zanta was born.

— In 2006, Zancai was banned from the TTC for two years under the “No person shall loiter” bylaw. He previously received six months’ probation for committing a nuisance on TTC premises in April 2003, April 2005, and March 2006.

— In March 2006, he was convicted of projecting his body beyond the edge of the platform. A month later, he was busted for entering a TTC vehicle other than from the designated entrance. “I’m a living legend at the TTC. Everyone loves me down there — the drivers, the guys that blow the whistles, everybody. I can’t believe they’d want me banned,” he told Postmedia at the time.

— Local cartoonist Jason Kieffer published a graphic novel about the shirtless, Santa-hat wearing busker in 2012.

— Zancai was banned around the CHUM building and from Dundas Square. He was given a warning from Exhibition Place for trespassing.

— In August 2015, Zanta interrupted Mayor John Tory as he honoured volunteers from the Toronto 2015 Pan Am/Parapan Am Games at City Hall.

WHAT PASSENGERS CAN DO IF THEY’RE BEING HARASSED ON THE TTC

— Anyone who is threatened or feels their safety is in danger can use the yellow strip emergency alarm on trains and first responders will attend. They can also contact TTC staff, who will notify a TTC special constable.

— The TTC is working on a smartphone app to help passengers report harassment. Users would send the TTC information directly, including time, location and a photograph, and the TTC will investigate.

— Special constables can take individuals to the hospital under the Mental Health Act.

jenny.yuen@sunmedia.ca