Teen arrested in downtown groping incidents after being spotted by patrol officer, Winnipeg police say
15-year-old arrested on 2 counts of sexual assault
Police are crediting an observant officer with spotting the teenage male accused of groping two people in downtown Winnipeg.
On Tuesday around 4:40 p.m., an officer patrolling a downtown skywalk saw a teenager who matched the description of a suspect in the sexual assaults, police said in a media release Wednesday.
The 15-year-old male was taken into custody near Portage Avenue and Vaughan Street.
Police said the first assault happened Friday at about 7:50 a.m. A woman in her 30s was walking through the skywalk between Bell MTS Place and Cityplace Shopping Centre, when a man came up to her and grabbed her, police said.
A second woman in her late teens was attacked Saturday at about 9:15 a.m. while she was heading through the walkway between the downtown YMCA and Portage Place Shopping Centre. A man approached her from behind and grabbed her.
Winnipeg police issued a second public warning about the gropings on Tuesday, after learning of a third incident where a male "acted suspiciously" around a woman in her late teens at around 6:45 a.m. on Saturday at Portage Place Shopping Centre.
Though descriptions of the male's appearance differed, police said last weekend they believed the events are related.
The 15-year-old was arrested on two counts of sexual assault. He was released from custody on a promise to appear.