On Saturday morning, a man was robbed and stabbed while walking through the area of Austin Avenue and Blue Mountain.
Photograph by: File , NOW
COQUITLAM — For the third weekend in a month, an altercation in the Austin Heights area has landed someone in hospital.
On Saturday morning, a man was robbed and stabbed while walking through the area of Austin Avenue and Blue Mountain.
Coquitlam Mounties said the man, in his early 20s, was walking home after 2 a.m., when a suspect appeared from the darkness, demanding valuables from the victim.
The man fought back and got away to a nearby 7-Eleven store.
“He refused to be robbed and they got into a scuffle,” said RCMP Cpl. Jamie Chung.
The victim then realized he had been stabbed several times during the fight and eventually checked himself into a hospital.
Police note the man suffered superficial wounds.
Coquitlam RCMP are now looking for the suspect, who may be homeless.
The suspect is described as a Caucasian man in his 40s with a dark complexion, scruffy grey hair and beard.
He was wearing a stained baseball hat.
A week prior, three men were stabbed following an altercation with a larger group in the 400 block of Westview Street.
The men, all in their early 20s, received minor injuries from the fight.
Police at the time were not sure what sparked the altercation.
A couple of weeks before that, a man was beaten a few blocks away on Austin Street.
In the July 27 incident, a man was sent to hospital suffering from a serious head wound after an altercation at a bus stop.
Police at the time didn’t have a suspect or a motive for the attack.
Despite the recent spate of incidents, police insist the neighbourhood is still safe.
“That could happen anywhere where there is lots of foot traffic and a lot of people walking around at night,” Chung said, in regard to the latest incident.
He said finding the suspect is important, but added the community needs to find better ways to deal with homelessness in the city, suggesting the proposed homeless shelter for Gordon Avenue will be part of the solution.
Anyone with information related to the incident on Saturday is asked to call the local detachment at 604-945-1550 and quote file number 2012-22933.
