Good Samaritans Credited With Stopping Sexual Assault in Calgary

A police vehicle is shown at the Calgary Police Service headquarters on April 9, 2020. Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press

Calgary police are thanking several people who intervened during a sexual assault early in the morning on Aug. 7.

Police say they were called to the Louise Riley Library, located in the city’s northwest, around 12:10 a.m. after reports of a woman being sexually assaulted in some nearby bushes.

A Calgary Police Service news release said the woman was screaming and calling for help when several people, who were walking in the area, intervened to stop the assault, contained the suspect, and called police.

“Thanks to the quick actions of these individuals, police attended the scene and took one man into custody,” said the news release.

Police say 39-year-old Rodrigo Ortiz, of no fixed address, faces one count of sexual assault.

“We are thankful to those who stepped in and helped the victim during this very traumatic incident,” said Acting Staff Sgt. Adam Williams of the Calgary Police Service Sexual Assault Investigative Unit. “Those good samaritans were instrumental as they stopped the assault and held the suspect until police arrived, which resulted in a quick arrest by our officers.”

The country’s Crime Severity Index shows that this is not an isolated incident.

The numbers, released by Statistics Canada on July 27, show that violent crimes, including sexual assault, are on the rise across much of the country.

Violent crime rose by 5 percent in 2022, and by 6 percent in 2021.

Reports of sexual assault rose by 3 percent in 2022.

Since 2012, the numbers show that reported sexual assaults have jumped by 47 percent.

“Police reported crime in Canada, as measured by the Crime Severity Index (CSI) increased for the second consecutive year,” said StatsCan in the introduction to the 2022 index.

“The violent CSI rose in 2022, reaching its highest point since 2007.”

“The consecutive increases recorded in the overall CSI may indicate a return to the upward trend in crime observed before the start of the pandemic,” it added.

In April, the provincial government announced plans to add 100 more officers to the police services in Calgary and Edmonton because of rising crime in some areas, including LRT and Transit stations.

In Calgary, said the news release, overall crime at LRT stations rose 46 percent between 2021 and 2022.

The province is also funding more Police and Crisis Teams (PACT) to deal with mental health and addictions. The funding will double the number of teams in Calgary from 12 to 24.

The province said that, in Calgary, property crime nearly doubled in 2022 and total calls for service at LRT stations rose to over 9300 in 2022, an increase of 39 percent.