A man seen pushing another man down a flight of stairs in Vancouver is at the centre of a possible stranger assault investigation by local police.

On Friday (March 18), police released surveillance footage of the incident, which happened just before 5:30 p.m. on March 1 at the entrance of the Granville Street SkyTrain station.

Police say prior to the assault, the 61-year-old victim had a brief interaction with two men along Granville Street, near the station.

The video shows one of the suspects following the victim into the station and pushing him down a flight of stairs.

As the victim is laying on the ground, the suspect can be seen kicking the victim before passersby intervened. He fled the area before police arrived but can be seen exchanging words with other people who witnessed the attack.

鈥淕iven the time of day and the location of the incident, we know there were people in the area who witnessed this assault,鈥� Const. Tania Visintin said in a statement. 鈥淲e also know there will be people who recognize the man in this video, and we鈥檙e asking them for help to solve this crime.鈥�

The victim suffered minor injuries, police said.

The suspect is described as Indigenous, in his mid-40s, with short black hair and a slim build. He was wearing a black rain jacket with a small white logo on the left chest, a white t-shirt, dark blue jeans, black running shoes and a red, white and blue ball cap.

Vancouver has seen a rise in reported random attacks in the past year. A review found that there were 1,700 unprovoked attacks in the city between Sept. 1, 2020 and Aug. 31, 2021.

Anyone who has information or anyone who recognizes the suspect is asked to call investigators at 604-717-4022.

ashley.wadhwani@bpdigital.ca
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