Metro Vancouver Transit Police say they have identified the suspect in connection to an assault on a SkyTrain near Waterfront Station.
A 51-year-old Vancouver man of no fixed address, and who is known to police, is expected to appear in provincial court in Vancouver Thursday.
Charges of assault, as well as theft and mischief, are being considered by Crown Counsel.
Transit police said in a news release Thursday that a young woman got on the SkyTrain at Waterfront at about 7:50 a.m. on Saturday, when a man who had been staring at at the woman approached her and yelled “you people are why my daughter is sick!”
Transit police said the man then allegedly grabbed the woman’s bag and “punched the woman in the face multiple times.
“He then grabbed her by the hair and back of the head, violently hitting her head against the SkyTrain seating,” police said.
When the train stopped at Burrard Station, transit police said the man pushed the victim through the open SkyTrain doors and grabbed her cell phone. He then allegedly threw the victims phone against the wall and broke it.
The woman was helped by two Good Samaritans who were able to get her bag back. Police said the suspect stayed on the train until it got to King George SkyTrain Station in Surrey, where he got off.
The victim reached out to transit police when she got home. She was left with a cut above her eye, a bloody nose and significant swelling to her face.
Transit police describe the suspect as a South Asian man between 40 and 50 years old, five-foot-five to five-foot-seven in height, with a medium build, a salt-and-pepper beard and wearing a black jacket, green hoodie and blue jeans.
Anyone with information about the identity of this suspect, or who witnessed this incident, is asked to contact Transit Police tip-line at 604-516-7419 or text us using code 87-77-77 and refer to file 2020-8309.
