12-year-old girl accosted in West Van neighbourhood
Email
Print
Letter to Editor
Share
Updated: November 05, 2009 12:14 PM
Police report a 12-year-old girl was accosted in West Vancouver earlier this week by an aggressive man asking for money.
Tuesday afternoon the girl was crossing a footbridge from the 1700-block of Esquimalt Avenue when she saw a man asking another woman for money.
He then followed the girl, asked her if she spoke English and grabbed her by the neck, police say.
He allegedly wanted money to get to the Sunshine Coast.
A woman in a nearby parked car told the man – described as in his 50s, with white hair, green eyes, wearing a New York Yankees jacket and possibly a hospital ID bracelet – to leave the girl alone.
Police say she ran home, but reported the assailant followed her and banged on her door.
The girl's family called police, and officers combed the area, but didn't find the suspect because an hour passed between the incident and the search, said a WVPD release.
Police are asking for potential witnesses: two adult females, as identified in the girl's report, or anyone who saw a man fitting the description.
Police also urge parents to make sure children are escorted home by adults or older siblings or walk to school in pairs.
newsroom@northshoreoutlook.com
v2
