Metro Vancouver Transit Police are hoping the public can help them identify a man who allegedly attacked a woman last month on a bus.
A man boarded a bus at Main Street and East Hastings in Vancouver at about 4:25 p.m. on April 15, before two Asian women, wearing face masks, also got on.
The man looked at the two women and said words to the effect of “go back to your country; that’s where it all started,” police said.
Another woman who was sitting across from the man told him to leave the two women alone, which police said led to a brief argument between the two where he allegedly threatened her.
The man then jumped up and kicked the intervening woman in the leg. As she stood up to defend herself, police alleged he reached over and pulled her hair so hard that a large clump of it came off her head.
He then punched the woman multiple times in the head, police said, and wrestled her to the ground.
She was able to fight him while pinned to the floor of the bus.
The man left and was last seen running away near Commercial Drive and East Hastings.
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The woman received bruising to her leg and an injured scalp.
The suspect is described as a Caucasian man, 45 to 55 years old, approximately 5’6”, weighing 180 lbs, with a stocky build.
He was wearing a red baseball hat with the letter “V” in the centre, a blue t-shirt, light grey sweatpants and blue shoes, and was carrying a dark grey jacket and grey backpack.
Vancouver police previously noted a large increase in reports of anti-Asian hate-motivated incidents. Eleven of the 15 hate crimes reported in April had an anti-Asian element.
Twenty anti-Asian hate crimes have been reported to Vancouver police so far this year, compared to 12 in all of 2019.
In recent incidents, a young woman was punched in the face while waiting for a bus in what Vancouver police called an “unprovoked attack” and a 92-year-old man was assaulted outside a convenience store on March 13.
Anyone with information about the identity of the suspect in this incident or who witnessed this altercation is asked to contact the Metro Vancouver Transit Police tip line at 604-516-7419 or text them at 87-77-77 and refer to file 2020-7645.
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