Richmond RCMP has issued an urgent appeal for witnesses or video evidence after responding to two random assaults near Richmond Centre mall.

In both cases, the victims were women.

The assaults occurred on the morning of Valentine’s Day along Buswell Street, considered Richmond’s downtown core and very close to Richmond Centre.

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During the mid-morning hours of February 14, a frontline officer was flagged by a bystander along the 6400 block of Buswell Street. The bystander had discovered a woman lying on the sidewalk.

First aid was provided before she was transported to the hospital by Emergency Health Services. Police initially believed that the woman had just had a medical health emergency.

Following that incident, another woman came forward to police, reporting that she had been assaulted by an unknown male around the same time that day, walking on the sidewalk in the same location the first woman had been found.

Investigators with Richmond RCMP’s Serious Crime Unit now believe that the two incidents are linked. The random assaults occurred on Buswell Street, between Cook Road and Saba Road, a few minutes away from Richmond Centre.

Police are hoping anyone who may have witnessed the assaults or who might have dash-cam footage from the video that morning will call Richmond RCMP at 604-278-1212.