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Woman who filmed man following her in Vancouver says police arrested wrong person

Vancouver police said the man arrested had assaulted a woman in the city’s downtown

A woman who filmed a man following her for 30 minutes in Vancouver said the person arrested by police is the wrong man.

The issue stems from an incident posted by Jamie Coutts to social media, where her video showed a man following her around Vancouver. Coutts first began to be suspicious when she left the Shoppers Drug Mart near Granville and Dunsmuir streets Wednesday (March 17) evening and she sensed someone sticking close behind her. She began recording.

The man – in a black hooded sweater, cap and blue mask – refused to walk past Coutts when she stepped off the sidewalk to let him through.

Instead, he stood in place staring blankly at her, she said in a caption. When she told him he was walking too close, he “said nothing.”

Coutts filed a report to Vancouver police and on Saturday, police said they identified a person of interest in her case. A 33-year-old Vancouver man was arrested and held in custody with assault charges recommended after he allegedly attacked a female victim in downtown Vancouver.

Police said the investigation into Coutts’ stalking case is ongoing, but she posted to social media to say the man arrested was not the man following her.

“This man is still not found,” Coutts said in a social media post featuring a still of the man stalking her in the video. “The one who was arrested is a different guy.”

Vancouver police told Black Press Media that the investigation is ongoing but that they could not comment on specifics.

VIDEO: ‘Terrified’ Vancouver woman records man following her for 30 minutes


@katslepian

katya.slepian@bpdigital.ca

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