Good Samaritans stop stranger attack in downtown Vancouver

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Half a dozen Good Samaritans stopped a stranger attack in progress on a woman outside her downtown apartment building Sunday night, Vancouver police said.

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The 19-year-old suspect, police allege, followed the 29-year-old victim into the lobby of her building at Davie and Howe streets, grabbed her, threw her to the ground and began attacking her.

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The woman managed to escape and ran out of the building, but the suspect followed her.

The group of Good Samaritans saw what was happening, proceeded to tackle the suspect and pinned him to the ground until police arrived.

“These witnesses jumped into action to assist the victim when she was being attacked by a stranger,” said VPD Sgt. Steve Addison said in a press release issued Monday. “They are heroes and deserve full credit for their bravery. There is no question that this victim could have suffered serious physical injury had she not acted so decisively.”

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Police said the victim is traumatized.

Bryce Michael Flores-Bebington was released after appearing before a judge on charges of assault and making death threats.

Investigators are trying to see if this incident is related to other unsolved cases.

Vancouver police have reported several stranger attacks downtown in recent days.

On September 27, a 19-year-old woman was robbed with a pole while walking near Dunsmuir and Cambie streets. Police say the suspect used a racial slur during the attack. The suspect is still at large.

Two days prior to that incident, a 27-year-old Coquitlam woman was walking with a group of friends near Seymour and Pender Streets when she was the victim of a hammer attack. The Good Samaritans also stepped in to stop the attack in that case. The suspect was arrested shortly after the incident.