Police investigating 10th assault in southside Edmonton in 9 months

EDMONTON – Police are investigating after yet another assault in the Garneau-Old Strathcona area.

A 33-year-old woman told police she was jumped from behind by a man near 74th Avenue and 109 Street around 12:40 a.m. Wednesday.

She alleges she was walking home after shopping on Whyte Avenue, when the attack occurred. And the victim put up a fight.

“They were wrestling and obviously she wasn’t screaming because he had his hand over his mouth,” says Scott Pattison with the EPS.  “But I guess the struggle with the victim, she was courageous enough to take him on pretty good, and he had had enough and made off.”

The EPS Canine Unit responded, but was unable to locate the suspect. 

Police are still trying to determine the man’s motive, including whether he was attempting to sexually assault the victim.

The suspect is described as a Caucasian male, between 27 and 33 years of age and approximately 5’10” tall.  He was wearing a light-coloured winter jacket with a hood and a multi-coloured toque. 

That suspect description is very close to the description of a suspect in a sexual assault last month near Gateway Boulevard and 76 Avenue. It’s also one of ten attacks in the area since March. 

Pattison admits there are some similarities in some of the cases, and as such, “investigators are not discounting the possibility that some of these incidents may be related.”

He adds that police currently have no leads, and no suspects.

“Investigators having been working hard on each of these cases,” Pattison says, “and we remain hopeful that someone in the community will recognize a suspect description in a media report and contact police (at 780-423-4567 or #377 from a mobile phone) or anonymously through Crime Stoppers (at 1-800-222-8477 or online).”

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