Police arrest teen male after 3 gropings in downtown Winnipeg

Police say they have arrested an underage male in connection with a series of gropings. 

After issuing a public warning last weekend that two women were groped by likely the same individual, investigators learned of a third incident where a male "acted suspiciously" around a woman in her late teens at approximately 6:45 a.m. on Saturday at Portage Place Shopping Centre, said a media release.

Police have surveillance footage from the third incident. They believe the three events are related. 

The first assault happened Friday at about 7:50 a.m., said police. As the woman, in her 30s, was walking through the skywalk between Bell MTS Place and Cityplace Shopping Centre, a man came up to her and grabbed her. 

She described the man as being about 20 years old, five feet tall and with a small build, wearing a T-shirt and cargo pants.

The second woman was attacked Saturday at about 9:15 a.m. while she was heading through the walkway between the YMCA and Portage Place Shopping Centre. She, too, had a man come up to her and grab her, this time from behind.

The victim, in her teens, described the man as about 20 years old, about five feet eight inches tall and 150 pounds with short black hair and a slight accent. He was wearing a T-shirt with a logo, blue jeans, black runners and had a black backpack with white stitching on the pockets. 

Though the descriptions differ, Const. Jay Murray told CBC News last weekend he believes the two assaults are connected.

"Just the proximity of the incidents, there is some similarities in the description," Murray said. "Witnesses sometimes, especially when they've gone through an emotional incident, can provide varying degrees of a description."