VANCOUVER – Police believe a 15-year-old boy was behind a series of “unknown” attacks that targeted four women in Metro Vancouver last week.
Burnaby RCMP said plainclothes officers arrested the teenager as he was leaving Surrey’s SkyTrain Central station on Wednesday afternoon and recommended charges of sexual assault against him.
The first attack occurred near Metrotown station around 9:30 a.m. Friday evening.
The next day, another woman was attacked in New Westminster, near Eliott Street and Clarkson Street, not far from Columbia Station.
The third attack occurred mid-afternoon Monday when a 25-year-old woman was thrown to the ground and assaulted near Canada Way and Edmonds Street.
“This attack is again very aggressive. It appeared that the individual or suspect had followed the woman to a place where she might have thought it was unlikely they would see her, ”said Cpl. Brett Cunningham of the Burnaby RCMP.
Investigators in New Westminster and Burnaby began to believe the assaults could be related and formed a working group that included the Burnaby RCMP Serious Crimes Unit, the Prolific Offenders Unit, the Force team. of attack, the investigation support team, the New Westminster Police Department and the Vancouver Metro Traffic Police. .
On Wednesday morning, Burnaby RCMP received a similar report from a woman who said she was also attacked in the Edmonds area.
Depending on the time and location of the assaults, police believe the suspect was traveling by SkyTrain and possibly selecting the victims on the train or as they drove away from the stations.
“It simply came to our notice then. This was very cheeky and predatory in nature, ”said Cunningham. “We believe that if this person had not been captured, we would probably have seen another victim or several victims.”
The suspect, who cannot be named under the Juvenile Criminal Justice Act, remained in custody since Thursday morning and police said the services of officers and victims “continue to work with the young man’s family. 15 years and the victims of these crimes. “