Vancouver police have issued a public warning about a man facing multiple allegations of unprovoked physical and sexual assaults.
Bryce Michael Flores-Bebington is currently out on bail, with two sex assault charges, an assault charge and a charge of uttering threats pending.
The 19-year-old is the man accused in a “bone-chilling” stranger attack in the lobby of a Yaletown apartment building on Oct. 3.
In that incident, he allegedly followed a woman into the building and threw her to the ground, before a group of bystanders intervened and held him down until police arrived.
Flores-Bebington is also accused of sexually assaulting a woman on the Granville SkyTrain Station escalator on July 6, and sexually assaulting another woman in the Fairview neighbourhood on July 7.
Police are warning the public that he “poses a risk of significant harm to public safety,” but that he has “met the legislated requirements for bail and has been released from custody.”
His release came with several conditions, and police are urging anyone who sees Flores-Begington break those conditions to call 911 immediately and not to approach him.
The conditions are:
- Reside at a location directed by the courts
- Take all medication prescribed
- Not to possess or carry weapons
- Not to be in the area bounded by Thurlow Street to the west, Pender Street to the north, Homer Street to the east, and Pacific Boulevard to the south
Pressed on the release Friday, B.C. Public Safety Minister said the decision to release repeat offenders is in the hands of the courts, not politicians.
“What I want to see happen is that individuals like this are not able to just get out when they have a history of violating conditions, and particularly violent crime. They need to be behind bars,” he said.
Farnworth said some of the issues around people being released on bail were the “unintended consequences” of changes the federal government made to the Criminal Code in 2019, and said the province had been meeting with federal counterparts to make its concerns known.