Vancouver transit police are appealing to the public for help in identifying a man who threw coffee at a woman and then pushed her dangerously close to the train tracks last month.
On April 6, security cameras at a SkyTrain station in New Westminster captured video of a 42-year-old woman rushing to catch an approaching train. As she’s running, the video shows her bump a man in her path. The pair can then be seen exchanging words before the woman turns to leave. As she begins to walk away, the man throws a cup of coffee at her back. When the woman approaches the man to confront him about the coffee, he shoves her onto the platform.
The shocking video shows the woman fall back and hit her head on the floor, just centimetres from the platform’s edge. She was taken to hospital and treated for minor neck and back injuries.
Investigators said the suspect left the station as other riders went to help the woman.
Transit police Sgt. Clint Hampton called the incident an “unprovoked assault.”
“An accidental bump or even an exchange of words doesn’t warrant a physical assault,” he told CTV Vancouver. “We’re really lucky that she escaped with minor injuries. This could’ve been so much worse.”
Nearly a month after the incident, transit police are still searching for the man in the security footage. He’s described as a white man in his mid-30s who is about six feet tall with a medium build, short black hair and possibly blue eyes. He was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt with white designs on the sleeves and jeans.
Anyone with information about the suspect or the assault is asked to called transit police at 604-516-7419 and refer to file number 18-6202.
With a report from CTV Vancouver’s Penny Daflos
