Woman grabbed from behind, assaulted at UBC
Police have released suspect description
An 18-year-old woman was assaulted on the UBC campus on Sunday.
University RCMP said she was grabbed from behind by a male stranger around 10:10 p.m. PT while walking near Mundell Park at the south campus.
She struggled and managed to break free. Police were called but they were unable to locate the suspect.
He is described as:
- 18 to 20 years old.
- Olive-coloured skin.
- Short, spiky, black hair.
- Approximately 5'4" to 5’6”.
- Medium build.
- Wearing a puffy army green vest, dark long-sleeved shirt, and dark pants.
"We recognize that incidents of this nature can be alarming to those regularly walking alone at night," said Cpl. Brenda Winpenny in a press release.
"Although we believe this to be an isolated incident, as always, we recommend for the general public walking alone late in the evening or early in the morning to remain extra vigilant of their surroundings and take every precaution to enhance their personal safety."
Police say there is no information at this time to connect this case with any other on-going investigations.
In 2013, UBC and the RCMP issued a safety alert following a spate of disturbing sexually-motivated attacks by men on campus. The RCMP then issued a warning at a major press conference warning that a total of six sexual assaults on the UBC campus appear to be connected.
Earlier this month, a CBC News investigation into campus sex assaults revealed that UBC's published data on these crimes was out of sync with RCMP figures.
The investigation found that the number of sexual assault reports received by the University of British Columbia between 2009 and 2013 is less than a quarter of the number received by the RCMP detachment on the UBC campus during the same time period.