ON September 13, the New Westminster Police Department appealed to the public for assistance in identifying a suspect in an unprovoked assault that had happened the day prior near the 700-block of 22nd Street.
With the help of Metro Vancouver Transit Police, photos of the suspect were shared across NWPD communications channels in the hopes that someone would recognize the suspect.
Within a short period of time, a member of the public reached out to the Major Crime Unit and Criminal Intelligence Unit investigators with helpful information that led to the arrest of the suspect. With the assistance of patrol officers, the Crime Reduction Unit, Street Crime Unit, and the Gang Suppression Unit, the suspect was located and taken into custody without incident.
“We’d like to express our gratitude to the person who saw our appeal for assistance, recognized the suspect, and reached out to us,” said Sgt. Justine Thom on Thursday. “Thanks to your help and the support of our partnering agencies we were able to arrest and charge this individual.”
Mounib Bouazza, 31, of Surrey has been charged with one count of sexual assault and one count of assault.
If anyone witnessed this assault and has yet to speak to officers about what they saw, they are requested to call 604-525-5411 and reference file number 22-13838.
