Toronto police are investigating an apparent attempted sexual assault after a woman living near York University found a man creeping through her bedroom early Thursday morning.
The woman, who lives on Assiniboine Road, south of the north Toronto campus, woke up during the night to find a man in her bedroom.
According to police, the man was on his hands and knees inside her bedroom, located on the top floor of a row of townhouses.
The victim said the man appeared to be trying to steal her computer.
Her roommate, Christian Coldea, said they suspect the intruder climbed down from the roof and into an open balcony door.
“I was asleep and the next thing I know I hear a blood-curdling scream. I ran upstairs and there she is, all pale-faced,” he said. “Someone was in her room on all fours, who probably came in from the roof.”
Officers canvassed the neighbourhood early Thursday morning and forensic investigators dusted the home for fingerprints.
Toronto police said on Thursday they were handling the case as a break-and-enter and possible sex offender investigation.
A police alert said the suspect was only a short distance from the victim’s bed when he was spotted and fled the scene.
The suspect is described as a black male in his late teens, with a thin build and short stubby dreadlocks.
The townhouse sits on the southern edge of the York University campus, a short distance from where a series of alleged sexual assaults occurred last week.
Five women have come forward claiming they were groped near Vari Hall, a central building on campus that contains lecture halls, student gathering space and staff offices.
Oshane Leach, 20, has been charged with three counts of sexual assault, two counts of harassment and two counts of assault.
Police said a second suspect is being sought into some of last week’s sexual assaults.
Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 416-808-3104 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477).
