Transit police have identified two suspects in a violent bus assault last week that left a 61-year-old Burnaby woman with a broken arm, cracked sternum and head trauma.
No arrests have yet been made, according to spokesperson Anne Drennan, but Metro Vancouver Transit Police received about 80 tips from the public to help with the identification of the suspects.
“We’re very grateful to the public and the media for helping us with this,” Drennan said.
According to police, the Burnaby woman boarded a bus at the Surrey Central SkyTrain station on March 20 and sat down next to another woman, but the second woman said she was saving the seat for her husband.
An argument ensued during which the second woman allegedly used her hip and shoulder to force the first woman off the seat and onto the floor, according to police.
The second woman’s husband then sat down in the seat.
The victim sat behind the pair and tried to take a picture of them with her cellphone, but the female suspect allegedly grabbed the phone from her and threw it on the floor.
She then allegedly grabbed the victim by the hair and pulled her body over the back of the seat, hitting her head and chest on the metal handrail repeatedly while threatening to kill her, according to police.
The husband separated the two women and allegedly grabbed the victim’s phone from another passenger who had picked it up off the floor.
The two suspects then got off the bus at King George Boulevard and 88th Avenue.
The victim tried to follow them to get her phone back, but the man threw it on the ground.
The couple left, walking into the Bear Creek Business Plaza, according to police.
The victim was taken to hospital by ambulance.
“She remains extremely traumatized,” states a transit police press release.
The female suspect was described as a five-foot-six South Asian woman in her 30s, with a medium build, long black hair and bad teeth.
The male suspect was described as a five-foot-10 South Asian man with short dark hair, a beard and a moustache.
Anyone who has any information about this incident is asked to text the Metro Vancouver Transit Police at 87 77 77 or call the tip-line at 604-516-7419.
Refer to file number 18-5346.
