Woman attacked in bed in Westside home; police searching for suspect

A 21-year-old woman asleep in her bed in a Westside home was attacked by a stranger early this morning.

According to Vancouver Police, the woman woke to a stranger attempting to assault her at around 6 a.m. this morning in a home in the area of West 22nd Avenue and Macdonald Street.

The victim was able to fight off the attacker, who then ran from the home.

Police searched for the suspect in the neighbourhood but was unable to locate him. He currently remains on the loose.

The young woman was not physically injured in the attack but was traumatized.

The suspect is described as an Asian man between 20 and 30 years old with a medium build and was wearing dark clothing and a mask covering his face.

VPD spokesperson Randy Fincham says this kind of crime is rare.

“Something of this nature–where somebody is safe and secure in their own home to find a stranger inside their own home–is extremely rare,” he said. “We don’t see it very often. We do have a number of investigators that are working on this throughout the day and will continue to work on it until we find this person and take this person off the street.”

Police are continuing their investigation and are asking anyone with information about the incident to call the VPD Sex Crimes Unit at 604-717-3117 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.