TORONTO, Ont. – Police have identified a Toronto man wanted for second-degree murder following an alleged gas-and-dash incident in the city’s west-end that left a gas attendant dead.

Jayesh Prajapati, 44, was fatally injured on Saturday while attempting to stop a driver pulling out of a Shell station at Marlee and Roselawn avenues without paying for fuel.

Max Edwin Tutiven, 39, initially a person of interest, is now wanted for second-degree murder. The suspect may have fled to Montreal.



Police believe he is driving a 2000 to 2003 silver or beige, four-door Isuzu Rodeo SUV, which likely sustained front-end damage.

Police add that the vehicle may have stolen licence plates.

Just after 9 p.m. on Saturday, a driver filled his tank with $112.85 in fuel at a Shell gas station. The driver allegedly fled, striking and dragging the attendant.

Prajapati was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries, where he died.

His brother-in-law told CityNews that he likely tried to stop the driver because he would have had to pay for at least part of the loss out of his minimum wage salary.

“That sort of pressure he was working under that for $100 he risked his life,” he said.

In a statement released on Sunday, Shell said that its “top priority is the safety of staff and customers, and under no circumstance are sales associates or any other retail employee to intervene during criminal activity.”

A post-mortem examination determined the cause of death as multiple blunt force trauma.

A gas station attendant in Mississauga was killed last year, when a driver filled up and fled without paying.