Police are sharing the tragic details of a crime spree that they say included the assault of a teenage girl in a Vancouver public bathroom.
According to the Vancouver Police Department, one man has been arrested in connection with the crime spree, which also allegedly included a bank robbery and the assault of a second woman who police say escaped “serious harm.”
Police say that the series of incidents began earlier this week, on Wednesday, May 28, at around 5:15 p.m., with the first incident occurring inside an office building near Oakridge Centre, at Cambie and 41st.
According to police, a 58-year-old woman was leaving her medical appointment when she was grabbed by a stranger and assaulted. She screamed and managed to escape without suffering any serious physical injuries.
Just minutes later, a 14-year-old girl who was using the bathroom in the same building was allegedly sexually assaulted by a stranger and forcibly confined inside. The suspect was armed with a knife, noted police. The suspect managed to escape when another person entered the washroom as the assault was taking place.
“As multiple Vancouver Police officers responded to a 9-1-1 call reporting the sexual assault, the suspect allegedly entered a bank on the ground floor of the same office building and committed a robbery. He was taken into custody around 5:40 p.m. as VPD officers arrived on scene,” VPD said.
This marks yet another incident connected to someone known to the police. Police have identified the suspect as 62-year-old John Frederick Field from Surrey, a person we featured in a story back in 2022. That story involved Field walking out of his halfway house.
Field has now been charged with sexual assault with a weapon against a person under 16, forcible confinement, carrying a concealed weapon, robbery, and assault.
He remains in custody.
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