It wasn’t a great start to 2016 for residents in North Burnaby, especially those living in the Forest Grove area.
For a couple months, the community was on edge after a series of attacks and assaults on young women.
On Feb. 18, a woman was walking along a path on the Burnaby Mountain Urban Trail near Lougheed Town Centre around 12:40 p.m., when she was approached by a man and sexually assaulted.
On March 6, a woman had just left the Lake City Way SkyTrain station at 2:50 p.m. and was walking on the popular trail when she was approached by an unknown man and sexually assaulted. In both cases, the women were taken to hospital for treatment.
At the same time, Burnaby RCMP were also investigating three other nighttime assaults near Holdom Avenue, which were described as “groping” incidents.
Local Mounties began warning the public to be vigilant when they walk alone at night. At one point, the RCMP held a safety forum in the community.
But there was a sigh of relief in May when police announced a break in the cases.
RCMP announced two charges of assault against Michal Popek, 36, related to the two incidents in Burnaby on Feb. 18 and March 6.
The three other groping incidents were still being investigated.
