The man arrested is in his early 20s and is well known to Transit Police

Police arrested a man at a Burnaby SkyTrain station yesterday after he allegedly hurled racist insults at a woman and then turned on a SkyTrain attendant who tried to intervene.

The woman was waiting for a train at the Edmonds station at about 1:30 p.m., when she was approached by a panhandler who asked for money, according to Transit Police spokesperson Sgt. Clint Hampton.

When the woman wouldn’t give him money, the man allegedly became “aggressive” and made several racial comments to her, Hampton said.

A SkyTrain attendant overheard the interaction and intervened.

“At that point in time, the man was trying to instigate a fight with the SkyTrain attendant, and, at one point in time, he even allegedly hit the SkyTrain attendant with a hoodie that he had and removed a knife that he had in his pocket. It was one of those folding knives, but he never exposed the blade.”

The SkyTrain attendant removed himself from the situation and alerted police while the suspect got on a train, Hampton said.

He was picked up by Transit Police at the Royal Oak station.

Hampton said the man is in his early 20s and is well known to Transit Police.

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