Nine Vancouverites have been beaten, knocked to the ground and robbed as they walked home in the past two weeks in a rash of crimes in south Vancouver, police said Tuesday.
Residents need to watch out for the unprovoked assaults while police crack down on the culprits, said the acting deputy chief of the Vancouver Police, Andy Hobbs.
"These robberies are committed by people best described as thugs and bullies," said Acting Deputy Chief Andy Hobbs.
"They're people that are violent and that pick on the most vulnerable people in our society," he said, adding that their arrest was a top priority for the VPD.
The robberies began on March 6, and thugs demanded money, cash, valuables, cell phones, music players -- even transit passes.
They were all between Cambie Street and Nanaimo Street, south of King Edward Avenue.
Police are looking for between one and three well-groomed Indo-Canadian men who are likely between 18 and 30 years old.
Some witnesses have put these suspects in a light-coloured SUV, wearing dark clothing, including puffy jackets.
Hobbs also made an appeal for tips to the criminals' friends and family.
"These thugs aren't worth your silence and they aren't worth protecting," he said. "So you can call the police, you can call CrimeStoppers. You can help put a stop to this needless, senseless violence."
