Police fear sex attacker on the loose

by David Carrigg
Vancouver Province Newspaper
May 27, 2005

Women's group upset about police delay in releasing info about new attack

A two-day police delay in revealing the Stanley Park sex attacker may have struck again came under fire last night.

"I think it's utterly appalling," said Louisa Russell, spokeswoman for Vancouver Rape Relief.

"Vancouver police need to respond with composite drawings and all the details and it needs to happen immediately."

Police yesterday revealed a 28-year-old woman had been attacked on Tuesday morning as she jogged near Lost Lagoon.

A man walking in the opposite direction to the woman asked her for the time, then grabbed her arm.

The woman fought back, broke free, then ran to the Stanley Park pitch and putt and called police.

Prior to Tuesday's attack, three women were sexually assaulted within one kilometre of Lost Lagoon in the past nine months.

"We are looking at the possibility this guy is the same person involved in the other incidents," Const. Tim Fanning said.

In all three attacks the assailant was between five feet nine inches and six feet tall.

The assailant in Tuesday's attack was dark-skinned, six feet tall, in his 30s, with short black hair and a trimmed moustache.

Fanning said last night that he had delayed releasing details of the latest attack because he needed to confirm with investigators that there was a possible link between the cases.

Yesterday was not the first time police have locked horns with Vancouver Rape Relief.

In April 2001, the group staged a protest after police refused to release a composite sketch of a man who sexually assaulted three women in Kerrisdale in November 2000. The police released the sketch a week later.

Russell said the victim of November's Stanley Park attack arranged a public meeting earlier this year where she criticized how the police handed her complaint.

Russell said police did not follow up on the victim's complaint and she was outraged when, a month later, she read that another women had been sexually attacked in the area.

Yesterday afternoon was busy around Lost Lagoon, with bikers, rollerbladers, joggers and walkers filling the trails.

Carmen Aguirre has walked and jogged in and around Stanley Park since she was a child.

She feels safe in the park, but she recalled a horrifying attack she endured in the University Endowment Lands in 1981.

"I have been attacked before in a public space, so I'm not afraid of the unknown," Aguirre said.

Fanning said the police mounted squad will patrol the Lost Lagoon area with increased vigilance.

He recommended women run together in heavily used areas. If joggers run alone, he recommends they don't wear a Walkman. He is opposed to carrying bear spray.

"Don't live in fear, but prepare yourself and take precautions," he said.

dcarrigg@png.canwest.com

Russell said the victim of November's Stanley Park attack arranged a public meeting earlier this year where she criticized how the police handed her complaint.