Police probe male assault of young girl

Stettler RCMP are investigating an assault against a 13-year-old girl in Stettler last Wednesday evening.

Police said a male grabbed the girl by the right arm as she was walking east on 46th Avenue, between 52nd and 54th streets, shortly after 6 p.m.

“The girl was able to think quickly and delivered a hard kick to the suspect’s left leg,” said Sgt. Duncan Babchuk of Stettler RCMP. “Her actions caused the suspect to release the girl and she was able to run away.”

“The suspect was last seen running northbound from 46th Avenue. Police patrolled the area, but did not locate anyone fitting the description.”

The male was described as being five-foot-eight to five-foot-10, with curly dark hair, a medium build and wearing a black hoodie, baggy blue jeans and a tuque.

He was walking in the opposite direction when he grabbed the victim, police said.

“We don’t have any solid leads right now,” Babchuk reported Tuesday morning.

“We got a call that somebody matching that description went into a store. One of our guys went to look at the video, but they weren’t able to pull up the video. … We haven’t had anything solid that way.”

RCMP not only are in search of possible tips, but they also wanted to alert the public of a suspected criminal.

“Be aware that there may be somebody out there,” Babchuk said.

The young girl wasn’t physically injured during the confrontation, he said.

“She had the smarts about her to kick this guy, so then she ran home. She drove around (the area) with her mother to see if they could actually see this guy, but they couldn’t find him and they came over to the police station to make the report.”

Anyone with information regarding the assault is asked to call Stettler RCMP at 403-742-3382 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS).

Youth charged with graffiti crimes

Meanwhile, police have charged a 17-year-old male with 15 counts of mischief to property under $5,000.

The charges are related to multiple complaints of graffiti being sprayed on private and public property in Stettler.

“This same youth was also charged with two counts of theft, as the paint used in the crime spree was stolen from a local business,” Babchuk said.

The accused was released and is scheduled to appear in Stettler Provincial Court on March 13.

Babchuk said information from the public was “key” in identifying the accused.

“He went down a couple of alleys and painted all the garages,” he said.

“When the young fellow was arrested, he was found to have paint on his shoes, and he actually still had paint on his hands. So the officer said, ‘Show us everything that you did,’ so they drove around and we actually found some additional places that we didn’t even know about.”

The youth, who was known to the RCMP, is now under police curfew at home.

Investigators are seeking a second person involved in the graffiti activity. Anyone with further information is asked to call the Stettler RCMP detachment.