Man arrested after sexual assault at bus shelter on Southwest Transitway

WARNING: This article contains details of a sexual assault.

A man accused of sexually assaulting a woman at a bus shelter on Winnipeg's Southwest Transitway last weekend has been arrested and charged with a number of offences, police say.

Just after midnight on Saturday, police responded to a report a woman who had been sexually assaulted in the shelter, near Chancellor Drive and Pembina Highway, Winnipeg police said in a Saturday news release.

The woman in her 20s was physically and sexually assaulted, before a transit bus arrived and interrupted the assault. The attacker fled with some of herproperty, police said.

She suffered several lacerations and injuries to her upper body during the assault.

Investigators with the sex crimes unit took over the investigation and identified an 18-year-old man as a suspect, police said in a news release on Thursday.

Other officers in the major crimes unit were also searching for the man in connection with two unrelated assaults on Nov. 2 and 4, at a bus stop at Keewatin Street and Burrows Avenue.

The 18-year-oldwas arrested on Tuesday at a home in the Westdale neighbourhood, the police service's Thursday news release said.

He was charged with sexual assault with a weapon, aggravated assault, robbery, uttering threats, possession of a weapon and three counts of failing to comply with a release order.

He is in custody.

Support is available for anyone who has been sexually assaulted.

You can access crisis lines and local support services through thisgovernment of Canada websiteor theEnding Violence Association of Canada database. If you're in immediate danger or fear for your safety or that of others around you, please call 911.