Stranger attack victim punched 'square in the eye socket' in downtown Vancouver, witness says

Police are searching for a suspect after a woman was punched in the face by a passing stranger in downtown Vancouver Wednesday evening.

Authorities said the 29-year-old victim was walking near Cambie and Pender streets when a man struck her in the face, knocking her to the ground.

Moments earlier, an employee of a nearby business saw the man, dressed all in black with a bandana covering his face, walking aggressively toward her, so she ducked into a doorway to let him pass.

“As she re-emerged to take a look up the street to see where he was off to, or what have you, he leaned in and just one-punched a lady, a random lady, square in the eye socket,” said Dave, the owner of the business, who asked CTV News not to use his last name or the name of the business.

Police said the victim was simply standing on the street.

“Just out of nowhere, he punched her – sucker punched her right in the face,” said Const. Jason Doucette. “He runs off, but luckily there were some witnesses in the area who got a good description of the suspect, but also came to her aid, more importantly.”

The man was wearing a bandana covering the lower half of his face, a black hoodie with a distinctive white logo on the back, and black pants. 

The business captured him on surveillance video walking up Cambie Street seconds before the attack, but the footage only shows him from the back.

Vancouver police spent Thursday canvassing other businesses in the area hoping to find more surveillance footage that shows the suspect’s face.

“We’d love to get that out to the public, because our number one goal right now is to get this person identified and arrested,” said Doucette.

“Whatever they can do to find this guy and get him off the street, they’re working really hard at that right now,“ said Dave, who added his thoughts are with the victim.

“My understanding is she was hit and (suffered) real damage up around the eye,” he said. “How do you deal with that? It’s really sad for her.”

With so many stranger attacks happening in downtown Vancouver, Doucette said he understands why some people are afraid.

“It is a little frightening for us, and frightening for people to be walking down the street minding their out business and having stuff like this happen,” Doucette said.

Staff at the business are shaken that the latest stranger attack happened right outside their building. But Dave doesn’t want them to live in fear.

“We live in a beautiful city and there are some bad things happening, but there are more good people than bad,“ he said. “So let’s hang together and be aware, and be safe.”