One man has been arrested after a woman was punched in the face in downtown Victoria Friday afternoon.
The Victoria Police Department was called to the area near Johnson and Wharf streets around 3 p.m. on Friday for a report that a man had approached a woman and punched her without provocation. Bystanders then followed the suspect and detained them until police arrived.
The woman suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
After the man was arrested, he was taken to VicPD cells where he reportedly assaulted a police officer, who was not physically injured in the incident.
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As they were investigating, police learned the same suspect was reported to have allegedly approached a pregnant woman in the 900-block of Pandora Avenue and punched her, again without provocation. That victim was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Police also learned the man had been convicted of assault causing bodily harm after a random, unprovoked assault on a woman near Douglas and Johnson streets in 2019. When he was arrested Friday, he was in breach of a conditional sentence order stemming from that conviction.
The man is now facing recommended charges including two counts of assault, one count of assaulting a police officer and one count of breach of a conditional sentence order.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call the VicPD report desk at 250-995-7654 ext. 1. To report anonymously, call Greater Victoria Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
READ ALSO: VicPD arrest man who threw woman to ground in ‘random, unprovoked’ assault
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