THE suspect in the unprovoked assault of a 17-year-old girl on a TransLink bus on April 1 has been identified and arrested, the Metro Vancouver Transit Police tweeted on Saturday.

“Transit Police appreciate all of the tips received by the public, which led to a quick arrest by investigators,” the MVTP added.

On Friday, April 1, just before 2 p.m., a 17-year-old girl boarded a route 335 bus headed to Newton Exchange in Surrey, made her way to the back of the bus and sat down. At an unknown point in the journey, a man boarded the same bus and began acting erratically while heading to the back of the bus, where he sat near the teen.

The suspect continued to act more and more agitated, eventually standing up and blocking the teen into her seat. Then, without any provocation, he allegedly punched her in the head several times, causing her glasses to fly off her face. Despite the teen’s attempts to defend herself, when she bent over to pick up her glasses the suspect allegedly used his knee to strike her in the head.

The suspect was last seen leaving the bus at 152 Street and 84 Avenue in Surrey while the victim was alerting the bus operator to the incident. The victim, fortunately, did not sustain any serious physical injuries during the alleged assault and reported the incident to police after she returned home.

Transit Police said on Thursday that after their detectives had exhausted all investigative avenues available to them, they appealed to the public for help.