A 50-year-old Surrey man has been arrested in connection with a horrific sex attack against a young woman in Gastown last month.
On Oct. 12, a 25-year-old woman who thought she was getting into a taxi at 2 a.m. was instead driven away, severely beaten and then raped.
Police released surveillance video of a suspect vehicle a week later, appealing for the public to come forward if they recognized the older model dark minivan.
Officers told reporters at a press conference Friday that they received a break in the case after a woman saw a minivan being driven by a man matching the suspect description.
Police identified a person of interest after the witness wrote down the license plate number and forwarded it to police.
Vancouver police say Stephen Lee Schienbein was arrested without incident after executing a warrant on his home Thursday. A van has also been seized in connection with the case, but police would not say whether the van belongs to Schienbein.
Crown has approved charges of sexual assault causing bodily harm, sexual assault with a weapon, forcible confinement and assault.
Schienbein has a criminal record, police said, but does not have a history of sexual assault.
