A man wanted for violent sexual assaults on two women in B.C. has been captured in Regina. Shaun Richard Funk was wanted for separate sex attacks in Squamish and Ladysmith. Both attacks had resulted in public warnings by police.
REGINA, Saskatchewan - Shaun Richard Funk, 35, wanted for a violent abduction and sexual assaults in Squamish and Ladysmith, B.C. has been captured by police in Regina.
A Canada-wide warrant was issued after investigators spent hundreds of hours developing leads in the two assaults on Aug. 28 in Squamish and Sept. 26 in Ladysmith on Vancouver Island.
"Regina Police Service has arrested a 35-year-old male who was the subject of two Canada-wide warrants for sexual assaults and other offences," police said.
"As the result of investigation, on Wednesday, November 18, 2009, at approximately 10:54 p.m. patrol units were dispatched to a residence in the 1400 block of King Street," police said.
They obtained consent to search the house and discovered Funk inside.
"Investigators in both Squamish and Ladysmith spent hundreds of hours investigating these crimes, with a focus on identifying a suspect, and apprehending him," said RCMP who issued a Canada-wide warrant for Funk.
"Those efforts paid off earlier this week, when investigators on Vancouver Island received information indicating Shaun Funk was in Regina, Saskatchewan," they said.
Funk faces charges of sexual assault, forcible confinement, kidnapping, robbery and break and enter. And police are looking at more cases.
"These crimes were stranger on stranger events, which are often the most difficult to solve", said Cpl. Darren Lagan of the Vancouver Island RCMP. "Despite this challenge, investigators were able to identify a suspect, and with the help of the public, the media, and our policing partners in Regina, were able to bring him in to custody."
In the Squamish incident on Aug. 28, a 39-year-old woman was driven to a wooded area and sexually assaulted. She was then driven to Burnaby where she was repeatedly attacked again before a suspect withdrew money from her ATM and left.
In Ladysmith, a man broke into a home and accosted a woman in her 50s who sexually assaulted. The woman was fast asleep at 3:30 a.m. when the intruder entered her home.
