Police are cautioning women to walk in pairs or groups following three separate reports of alleged sexual assaults in Burnaby last week.
On Sept. 1, RCMP had two separate reports of women being followed as they walked along Mary Avenue and 16th Street in Burnaby. According to police, a male suspect approached one woman from behind and pulled her pants down to the ground. When the woman turned around, the man fled the area on foot. Twenty minutes later, the same thing happened to another woman in the area.
The suspect was described as a medium-skinned male, late teens to early 20s, 5’7″ to 5’10” tall with a thin build and prominent dark eyebrows. He was wearing a black baseball hat, black hoodie and dark jeans.
Two days later, on Sept. 3 at about 7:50 a.m., a woman reported being grabbed by an unknown man in the 7400-block of Kingsway Avenue. The victim told police she was walking down an alley when a man approached her from behind and grabbed her buttocks. When she turned around she say the man running away.
The suspect was described as a light-skinned man, 5’7″ to 5’9″ tall with a thin build. At the time of the incident he was wearing a red jacket and blue jeans.
Burnaby RCMP believe the incidents are related and have ramped up patrols looking for the suspect.
None of the three women were injured in the alleged assaults.
Mounties are warning the public to be vigilant while walking alone in the area.
Anyone with information about the incidents is asked to contact Burnaby RCMP or Crime Stoppers