Nanaimo RCMP are investigating a disturbing indecent act on a rural trail in Nanaimo's Cedar community. (file photo/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Ian Holmes

alarming incident

‘He’s got his pants down:’ hiker threatened by man on rural Nanaimo trail

Oct 16, 2024 | 3:36 PM

Editors note: this article includes graphic details which may disturb some readers. Discretion is strongly advised.

NANAIMO — A woman faced a harrowing experience while hiking on a popular Nanaimo area trail.

Rose O’Neill, visiting Nanaimo for medical appointments, was hiking with her puppy on Cable Bay Trail in Cedar near the ocean on Tuesday, Oct 15 at around 1 p.m.

She had never hiked in the area before, was experienced with solo hiking and noticed other people and a full parking lot.

However, the 49-year-old O’Neill sensed something wasn’t right.

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“I stopped and then all of a sudden this man kind of pops up out of the bush, he’s masturbating, he’s got his pants down, then he’s saying all of these things that he intends to do to me…then he starts coming towards me.”

O’Neill said at that point her dog’s leash was tangled around a hook on her prosthetic leg.

She got the leash straightened out as the man approached her.

O’Neill saw him trying to pull up his pants with one hand and grab her with the other.

She turned around to leave, and assumed he fell over and crashed into the bushes as he swore and heard a loud commotion.

“Because I wasn’t looking back, I was just going,” O’Neill said. “I didn’t know if he had a weapon, I didn’t know what was going on. I just was like getting out of there and not looking back.”

O’Neill made the approximate 40-minute walk back to her vehicle.

“It wasn’t even so much what he was saying, which was just absolutely horrific, but it was the look on his face. The brain just wasn’t connecting. There was just not a normal person there.”

She phoned Nanaimo RCMP and made a statement to an investigator on scene.

While waiting for police, she warned several other female hikers about to venture into the Cable Bay Trail area about what she had encountered.

Nanaimo RCMP conducted patrols in the area but couldn’t locate the suspect.

He’s described as a heavy set, hispanic man in his 40’s, clean shaven with long dark hair with some grey on the sides.

The man’s hair was pulled back in a pony-tail at the time.

He was wearing a long-sleeved, faded plaid button-up shirt and believed to be wearing jeans. Notably, the suspect had an approximately 1.5-inch red scar, possibly a birth mark, on his front right thigh.

Nanaimo RCMP Res. Cst. Gary O’Brien said there are a few important things victims of incidents like this should do, including informing police as soon as possible.

“If you come across somebody like that don’t engage, you may have the feeling that you want to scream at them. Back away as quick as possible. They are looking for engagement and a reaction from you,” O’Brien said.

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Ian.holmes@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @reporterholmes