Yahoo Finance Hunt For Sex Offender After 'Spray-Paint' Attack
Detectives are appealing for the public's help to trace a violent registered sex offender over a series of alleged attacks ranging from assaults to indecent exposure, and racist abuse.
Vitalij Kovaliov, 35, escaped a mental health unit in Hammersmith, west London, while on escorted leave.
He was last seen heading towards the Chiswick area on 24 June at around 4.30pm.
Police said they are trying to track down Kovaliov in connection with eight alleged attacks over a four-day period.
On 28 June at 12.20pm, a 25-year-old woman in west London was waiting for a parcel delivery when a man spray-painted her hair red before fleeing.
Police were alerted about a man who had wandered into the middle of Cranbrook Road, Chiswick, and exposed himself at 12.39pm on the same day.
A 19-year-old man reported that he was punched in the face in the same street at 1pm by a man who then fled.
Then a 32-year-old man told police at 1.30pm that he was punched in the back in Chiswick High Road by a male suspect who then ran off.
A 27-year-old black woman said she had been racially abused by a man in Essex Place at 2pm who then threw a plastic bottle in her face before fleeing.
Just 30 minutes later officers were told of a suspect who had sprayed graffiti on a van in Chiswick High Road.
On 29 June, an eight-year-old boy was assaulted after his mother opened the door to a man she thought was a delivery driver at around 6am. He received minor cuts to his face and was treated in hospital.
Later at 7.40pm, a man was walking out of Brentford Fountain Leisure Centre when a man knocked a box of fruit he was carrying out of his hand. The suspect then picked the fruit up and threw it at the victim before fleeing.
The offences have been linked by locality, nature of the incident and description of the individual involved by detectives from Hammersmith and Fulham and Hounslow who are working together on the spate of attacks.
Police said Kovaliov should not be approached if seen - but members of the public should immediately contact police via 999.
Anyone with information as to the whereabouts of Vitalij is asked to contact police via 101 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.
Kovaliov is described as white, between 5ft 11ins and 6ft 1in tall and of a medium build.
