The Vancouver Police Department has unveiled a significant break in some sexual assault cold cases dating back to 2009, and the break involved a trip to Saskatchewan.
On Wednesday, VPD Deputy Chief Fiona Wilson provided a significant update on Project Scrimmage, which relates to a series of cold case sexual assaults that began on Canada Day 2009 and continued until December 24, 2010.
A suspect has been arrested concerning what the VPD calls “four historical crimes.”
Attacks were centred mainly in and around the Granville Entertainment District, which has been a troublesome area for police and businesses.
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On Canada Day 2009, a 20-year-old woman was attacked and assaulted by a stranger while walking near Granville Island. The suspect was able to flee the scene before police arrived.
A second attack occurred months later, on November 15, 2009, involving a 25-year-old woman being sexually assaulted entering an apartment building in the West End.
Seven months later, a third victim was attacked in Yaletown.
“Though it was clear someone was targeting young women in the city, there was initially no evidence to conclusively link the three cases, and the identity of the attacker remained unknown,” VPD said in a release.
Project Scrimmage was launched in 2011, and a break came this January when VPD found evidence that linked the three unsolved assaults to a fourth one that occurred downtown on Christmas Eve 2010.
The above links led to a 45-year-old suspect who was actually in Regina.
On July 21, investigators travelled to Saskatchewan, arrested the suspect and brought them back to Vancouver to face charges.
“Arturo Garcia Gorjon has now been charged with four counts of sexual assault, related to crimes that occurred between July 1, 2009 and December 24, 2011. Gorjon’s [last] court date [was] August 17,” VPD said.
“We owe it to those who come forward to do everything we can to support them, to identify the people responsible, and to hold those offenders accountable,” Wilson added.
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