Police are investigating a violent home invasion in Vancouver's West End that left a woman seriously injured in hospital Friday morning.
“A lady was screaming quite a long scream,” a neighbour, who didn’t want to be identified, told CTV News. “I couldn’t imagine what’s going on.”
The 29-year-old victim was attacked in an apartment on Beach Avenue near Jervis Street by a man who apparently entered through an unlocked patio door. Her apartment is on the ground floor of the Tudor Manor.
A staff member who works at the building told CTV News a concierge saw a man with a backpack in the garden in front of the building and then he disappeared from view of the security cameras.
He said they believe the suspect “jumped onto the patio and went inside the house.”
“We believe she was hit by a metal bar or something,” the building staff member said over the phone.
Const. Steve Addison did not confirm what the object was, only said she was “hit with some kind of a blunt-force object.”
Witnesses said they saw an ambulance on scene and the woman wheeled out of the building on a stretcher. They also saw a police dog searching the area.
Police have not specified what kind of injuries the woman suffered, but described them as serious. She was taken to hospital and is receiving support for her traumatic experience.
Investigators believe the intruder's motive was theft, adding a number of items were stolen from the home.
“This woman did not deserve what happened to her,” said Const. Addison. “She was in a place she should feel the safest. She was in her home.”
Police are now searching for a suspect described as a white man in his 30s, about 6-feet tall with short, dark hair and stubble. At the time of the attack, he was wearing a red T-shirt and blue jeans.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Vancouver Police Department's Major Crime Section at 604-717-2541. Tipsters who want to remain anonymous can instead call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
