VPD release new photos of suspect wanted in teenage girl's assault

Vancouver police have issued new photos of a suspect involved in the August assault of a girl in downtown Vancouver. (Courtesy: VPD)

The Vancouver Police Department is requesting the public’s help in identifying a suspect involved in the assault of a 16-year-old girl earlier this year.

The incident in question occurred on Aug. 25, on a bus journey from West Vancouver to downtown, police said in a release issued Friday.

The girl and a friend boarded the 250-line bus in West Vancouver around 5:45 p.m. Believing a man on the bus was staring at them, they had both commented aloud to each other about his behaviour, police said in the release.

When the girls departed the bus at Pacific Centre, near Granville and Georgia Street, the man allegedly followed them and assaulted one of the girls. The VPD said a witness had intervened to stop the assault, but the suspect had fled before police could respond.

Police say the suspect was a white man in his 40s or 50s. He stands at around six feet tall, wears glasses, and has a receding hairline.

Newly released images of the suspect show the man to be wearing an orange BC Lions golf shirt, cream coloured pants and blue and white Adidas shoes at the time of the incident.  

“This case remains unsolved because we have not yet been able to identify the suspect,” said Const. Tania Visintin.

“We hope that by releasing these images, someone who knows the suspect, or the suspect himself, will come forward.”

Anyone who has information on who the man might be is asked to call Vancouver police at 604-717-4021.