Police in Longueuil were struck by the gratuitous violence used by an unidentified male cyclist who beat a young female jogger early yesterday. The attack happened just before seven in the morning on a bike path that winds its way between Autoroute 132 and the Saint-Lawrence river. 

Police say the assailant, a man in his thirties, came up behind a woman, aged in her early twenties, as she jogged. He threw her to the ground and started beating her with his fists. At one point, the young woman either fell or was pushed down a ten-foot ravine onto large, sharp rocks. Police were alerted by a passerby who witnessed part of the scene. The woman suffered severe but non-life-threatening injuries. She has since been released from hospital.  

Investigators say there appeared to be no attempt to rape or rob the woman. 

They are now looking for possible connections with earlier, similar incidents, including one in neighbouring Boucherville last November when a female jogger was attacked and stabbed by an unidentified man.