Sex attack sparks call for better SkyTrain security

A Vancouver MLA is calling for increased security at SkyTrain stations following a sexual assault on Friday two blocks from a station.

But TransLink officials say politicians are missing the point and the stations are safe.

The 27-year-old woman left the Nanaimo station about 8 p.m. PT and was jumped from behind and dragged to the ground, Vancouver police said in a news release. The attacker "grabbed her breasts," the release continued. "The woman struggled with the man and this drew the attention of a passing motorist, who stopped to help. When confronted by the motorist the man ran away."

Adrian Dix, MLA for Vancouver-Kingsway, told CBC News on Saturday that although there are security cameras and pay phone booths at the stations, attacks like the one near the Nanaimo station on Friday show TransLink needs to do more to protect the travelling public.

"There should be two attendants at every SkyTrain station when it's in operation. It may cost a bit more, but it makes it a lot safer," Dix said.

However, TransLink officials said politicians, including Dix, are missing an important point.

The attack occurred more than two blocks away from the Nanaimo station on the 2200 block of Vanness Avenue and SkyTrain had nothing to do with the incident, beyond being a place the woman had left, according to Translink spokesman Drew Snider.

Dix's "call for improved security at SkyTrain stations will not address the majority of the assaults, robberies and other incidents because the majority of them happen away from the stations," TransLink spokesman Ken Hardie said in a statement on Sunday.

Hardie said improvements are coming, including better lighting, increased staffing and a better video system.

Nevertheless, he said, the SkyTrain system is safe for the vast majority of riders.

B.C. Solicitor General John Van Dongen said Sunday that improvements to the line, including the addition of turnstiles and better surveillance cameras at stations, will go a long way to help improve safety.

Earlier, Drew Snider, a media relations consultant with TransLink, disagreed with Dix's suggestion that a lack of security at the Nanaimo SkyTrain station led to the Friday night attack.

"If we had a SkyTrain attendant at that station it would not have stopped this from happening," he said.

"We understand [the victim] had headphones in. That's something we try to counsel people about, make sure they have all five senses working — no impairments like a cellphone or anything like that that will distract them," he said.

The release describe the attacker "as a Caucasian man in his mid-40s, five feet nine inches, 165 pounds, with greying hair, medium build, and wearing a blue shirt and blue jeans."

Warning issued about groper at Edmonds station

On Wednesday, RCMP in Burnaby warned that 10 women had reported being groped by a man near the Edmonds SkyTrain station since January.

Police said the attacker targets women coming off buses or standing at street corners.

"He merely walks by them, and grabs their butt or breast area and then keeps going," said RCMP Cpl. Alexandra Mulvihill.

The attacker is described as a black teenager between 14 and 16 years of age with a thin baby face, about five feet four inches tall and 110 pounds, Mulvihill said.

He was wearing baggy clothes at the time of the attacks, police said.