VANCOUVER — Less than two minutes pass between an apparent punch and the moment Vancouver police snap handcuffs on a road-rage suspect — a scene that was captured on video and has been viewed thousands of times online.
The dashboard video of the incident, shot on a grey, rainy day, was posted to YouTube on Feb. 21.
The video shows traffic stopped as a man exists his white car and walks up to a dark-coloured car in front of him. The man leans into the driver's side window of the other car and appears to take a shot at the driver.
The suspect is then seen returning to his car, while the victim and a bystander, who climbs out of an adjacent white van, exit their vehicles and approach the white car. Eventually the suspect gets out of his car again and is approached by the witness in the white van and the victim.
At the same time, a passenger exits the victim's vehicle, crosses two lanes of traffic and a grassy median to fetch a police officer who happened to be in the area.
An officer then arrives on the scene and handcuffs the suspect.
The video had been viewed more than 14,000 times as of Monday afternoon and was widely circulated online and in local news coverage.
Sgt. Randy Fincham of the Vancouver police confirmed that the Feb. 12 incident took place at about 2 p.m. on a busy street and on the city's east side.
"A 26-year-old man was arrested and later released," Fincham said in an email. "Charges of assault are pending and have not yet been laid."
Norman Rydings, a resident of Delta, B.C., an employee of Sundawn Integrated Services Inc., an air-conditioning, heating and refrigeration company, said he was the tradesman driving the white van.
He said his attention was drawn to some yelling and screaming outside of his passenger door and he saw the suspect take a swing at the driver.
Rydings said he left his van to try and diffuse the situation and determine why the incident happened.
A former hockey captain, Rydings said he just followed his instinct and stuck up for somebody who was in need.
"We got lucky with a cop just nearby, so it's funny how that is, when you need a cop, he's right there," he said.
On the web: http://youtu.be/L6WtsakHbB0
