New Westminster police released a composite sketch and asked for the public’s help on Thursday to locate a man accused of slashing an officer in the face two weeks ago.

They are also looking for a couple who first flagged down the officer just before midnight on July 30 to report a man crying hysterically at a picnic table in Queen’s Park, said acting Sgt. Bruce Carrie.

When the officer approached the man crying hysterically, the man stood up and ran toward the officer.

“(He) had no time to react as the male punched him in the abdomen area hard enough that he almost winded our officer,” Carrie said.

The officer punched the man in the face, possibly breaking his nose. When the officer realized the man had a knife, he tried to put some distance between them.

The suspect then dropped the knife and fled toward McBride Boulevard and 6th Avenue.

The 26-year-old officer later discovered he had been slashed in the abdomen and  also required 10 to 15 stitches on his left cheek.

“Had he not been wearing (the Kevlar vest), this might have ended up to be extremely deadly for our officer,” Carrie said.

The suspect is described as a black man, 25 to 30 years old, six-foot-four with a very muscular build.

He was last seen wearing black and green camouflage cargo shorts and white Nike runners with a dark swoosh.