A 35-year-old man has been arrested and charged with sexual assault for an incident that occurred on Monday.
Using social media, the suspect, Brett Ranger, was identified and Nanaimo RCMP were able to arrest him within 90-minutes of the incident.
At around 1:20 p.m. on March 27th, a 27-year-old woman who was assaulted by Ranger told police that she was walking to her place of work in the area of 55 Victoria Way when Ranger approached her from behind, grabbed her neck and groped her in a sexual way.
The victim was able to break free and ran away back to her workplace.
One of her coworkers managed to capture a photo of the suspect before he got away.
Once back at work, the victim called 911 and posted the picture her coworker had taken online.
Police say that several officers responded and began searching the area for the suspect while on social media, tips began to pour in once the photo was posted.
The information coming in via social media was able to help officers track down and arrest Ranger within minutes, according to police.
“The victim in this incident did everything correct,” said Reserve Constable Gary O’Brien of the Nanaimo RCMP.
“She fought back, she made noise, she told someone and reported the incident to the police. Then, by using her phone, a picture of the suspect was shared across social media, which ultimately led to his timely arrest.”
Ranger was held in police custody until his court date of Tuesday March 28th, where he was formally charged with one count of sexual assault.
He has now been remanded until April 4th.
