A homeless man who spent six years behind bars for sexual assault has been charged in connection with an armed attack on a 59-year-old woman on the grounds of the Pacific National Exhibition.
The woman was collecting bottles in a treed area in the southern part of Hastings Park around 5:45 p.m. Sunday when a man approached her, brandishing a knife.
Police say the woman was sexually assaulted and the man fled.
The victim walked to the PNE administration offices, where staff called 911.
Officers from the Vancouver Police Department found the suspect a short time later on park grounds with the help of a sniffer dog and his handler.
Detectives from the Vancouver Police Sex Crimes Unit forwarded charges to the Crown. Gary Alexander Vogrig, 47, is charged with two counts of sex assault with a weapon.
He is known to police.
"He does have a prior conviction for a similar-type sexual assault in 1990 in Vancouver," said Const. Lindsey Houghton.
Houghton said there have not been any connections to any other recent sexual assaults.
Vogrig has been remanded into custody. He is scheduled to appear for a bail hearing on May 21.
