VPD say no connection between 4 attacks on women in same East Van neighbourhood
In the latest incident a woman was assaulted while sitting in her car but managed to fight off the attacker
An attack on a woman in East Vancouver Wednesday evening is at least the fourth stranger assault in as many months in a small area of the Hastings Sunrise neighbourhood.
In the latest incident, a 41-year-old woman was surprised and grabbed by a man as she sat in her car near Nootka Street and East Broadway. She managed to fight off the attacker and call for help.
Less than four block away near East 7th Ave. and Windermere Street, another woman was attacked and sexually assaulted as she was getting into her parked car in January.
And nearby at Rupert Street and East 1st Ave, two other women required hospitalization after being attacked from behind and violently assaulted — one in December of 2015, the other, in March 2016.
Const. Brian Montague of the Vancouver Police told CBC News in an email that investigators from the sex crimes unit are assigned to each case and that while analysts do look for commonalities, they have not found anything to connect the cases.
"Other than geographically, at this time there is no evidence indicating those four incidents are connected or were committed by the same offender," he stated.
Montague said the VPD coordinates with other jurisdictions, including Burnaby, to compare evidence in stranger assault cases.
Burnaby sexual assaults
Burnaby RCMP recently formed a special task force after a fifth sexual assault in just over a month in North Burnaby. Police there say there are some commonalities in all five attacks.
Both clusters of attacks — in East Vancouver and in Burnaby — have occurred not far from SkyTrain stations along the Millennium Line.
A request for comment from the Burnaby RCMP was not returned.
Montague said there have been about 40 stranger attacks in Vancouver over the last four months.
"These numbers are regrettably not unusual," he said.
"I can tell you we are working very closely with not only Burnaby, but we are always in constant contact with other police agencies, investigators and analysts in the region to detect trends and identify and locate offenders."