May 30, 2016

Woman Arrested by Transit Police After Violent Attacks SkyTrain Passengers

A 46 year old Surrey woman has been arrested by Metro Vancouver Transit Police and charged following a pair of violent assaults on Skytrain.

On February 17, 2016, at approximately 12:45 pm, a woman boarded an eastbound SkyTrain at Commercial and Broadway Station. She appeared to be intoxicated and was openly drinking alcohol on the train, while behaving in a loud and disorderly manner.

At Royal Oak Station, a group of young students who were deaf & hard of hearing boarded the train and began communicating to one another in sign language. The woman, later identified as Tamara Robertson, moved very close to the group and began to mock the young people who appeared nervous and frightened.

Another woman on the train approached and asked Robertson to stop the harassment but was punched in the face by Robertson. As the train approached Edmonds Station, a 71 year old man got up to leave the train but had his path blocked by Robertson. When he politely asked her to move out of the doorway, he too was punched in the face.

The suspect and the victims got off the train at Edmonds with the victims reporting the assaults to a SkyTrain Attendant, who called Transit Police. The suspect boarded the next eastbound train.

A description of the suspect was broadcast over police radio with information she left the train at Gateway Station. Transit Police officers quickly boarded a train to Gateway, spotted Robertson walking on 108th Avenue and took her into custody.

Arrested and charged with two counts of Assault is Tamara Dawne Robertson. Robertson, who is well known to police, has appeared in court and been released on an Undertaking with numerous conditions including “Prohibited from utilizing SkyTrain on Saturdays and Sundays”. Her next appearance in Vancouver Provincial Court is scheduled for February 23, 2016.

The female victim, who went to hospital with her injuries, suffered a concussion and a black eye. The male victim suffered swelling and bruising to his nose.

Transit Police investigators are continuing work on this file and will be seeking elevation of one of the charges to Assault Causing Bodily Harm.