Surrey Mounties are hunting for a man who beat and tried to sexually assault a prostitute in Whalley last Friday.

An olive-skinned man driving a new grayish-purple Honda Civic picked the 33-year-old woman up near University Drive and 105th Avenue sometime between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m. that morning.

He took her to an alley at 132A Street and 100A Avenue where she was attacked but fought back and escaped.

Police said her attacker looked "European," was about 21 years old and five feet eight inches tall, and had dark curly brown hair with highlights, and brown eyes. He was clean-shaven, well manicured and was wearing a tracksuit.

"Although based on the preliminary findings of our investigation we do not believe the public is at risk, we wish to release this information in an attempt to further advance our investigation and locating the suspect," Cpl. Bert Paquet said. "Any information regarding this case could be extremely useful to our investigators."

Police ask anyone with information to contact the Surrey RCMP at 604-599-0502 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

tzytaruk@thenownewspaper.com