Suspect arrested after two women were randomly assaulted in Richmond

A 41-year-old man suspected of having assaulted two women at random near Richmond Centre mall last week has been arrested. 

According to the RCMP, the assaults occurred on the morning of Valentine’s Day near Richmond Centre.

During the mid-morning hours of February 14, a frontline officer was flagged by a bystander who discovered a woman lying on the sidewalk.

The woman was transported to the hospital and 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.

On Friday, Ernesto Mendoza Malgapo near Richmond Centre was arrested and is facing one count of assault causing bodily harm contrary. 

Mounties say, “Additional charges are anticipated.”

“The random attacks on women in our community is an affront to common decency and goodness. These attacks were the catalyst for all officers at Richmond Detachment to focus their collective efforts in identifying, locating, and arresting the person or persons responsible,” Chief Superintendent Dave Chauhan adds.