A 43-year-old man was in hospital yesterday with stitches and a couple of missing teeth after being hit in the face with a tire iron in an unprovoked attack in the Downtown Eastside.
A man and a woman have been arrested in connection with the attack.
The victim was walking in the north lane of an East Hastings Street alley just before midnight on Tuesday when a woman attacked him, said Vancouver police Const. Lindsey Houghton.
Beat cops heard the man’s screams as he tried to fend her off and came to his rescue.
“He suffered the loss of two of his teeth and a number of cuts and scrapes to his face and head,” Houghton said.
Police arrested 31-year-old Tash Laureen Carpenter, from Surrey, and 24-year-old Brandon Alexander Paul, from Vancouver. Both suspects are known to police.
Houghton said violent crimes in Vancouver are up four per cent this year compared to the same time last year, and the reason for that is unknown.
“(Violent crime) ebbs and flows in the city,” he said. “Our officers are continuing to build rapport with people (on the street). We have enhanced beat teams and put two more full squads in the Downtown Eastside.”
That amounts to about 24 to 26 extra officers on the street.
“We’re working very hard and we hope those numbers decline,” Houghton said.
