Mounties are investigating a report that a woman was followed and sexually assaulted by a stranger near a trail at Langford Lake Monday night.
The woman was jogging on the trail with her dog at around 7:30 p.m. when a man on a bike passed her three separate times.
Police say at one point the man asked her for the time and she answered, kept walking, and then the man slapped her on the buttocks before leaving the area.
The suspect is described as a white man about six feet tall with dark, buzz-cut hair, between 20 to 25 years old, large build and wearing a worn-out green T-shirt and basketball shorts.
The woman was not physically injured, according to police.
The assault is the latest in a string of attacks on West Shore trails in the last two years, including one that resulted in an eight-year jail sentence.
Bradley Michael Muscat pleaded guilty to a violent sexual assault on the Galloping Goose Trail in June 2014 as well as an assault on a Surrey woman two months later.
Last spring, a woman was knocked unconscious and sexually assaulted on a trail near Glen Lake Park. That crime remains unsolved.
After those assaults plus two stabbings near trails, Langford Mayor Stew Young said he’s hired eight police officers, including just four last week, to try to curb the violence.
“[I’m] absolutely pissed off,” said Young. “This kind of activity can’t be tolerated in any community…I don’t want people to be afraid to go use our facilities, our trails, and I can tell you right now we’re going to work a lot harder on this thing now.”
Police aren’t sure if the attacker in the latest incident is connected to any previous crimes in the area.
Mounties are now asking for anyone who witnessed the assault to call them at 250-474-2264 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
West Shore RCMP spokesman Const. Alex Berube said police encourage trail users to be vigilant and aware of their surroundings, always carry a cellphone and report incidents to police immediately.
