A woman has claimed a gun and baseball bat were pulled from the back of a vehicle to threaten her after it stopped in the middle of a main thoroughfare between Maple Ridge and Mission.
In a video circulating widely online, it shows the view from the dash camera inside of the woman’s vehicle on Wednesday, April 6, as she follows behind a van that appears to be an old, out-of -commission ambulance, driving along Dewdney Trunk Road east towards Mission.
Just as both vehicles pass Camp Whonnock, east of 272nd Street, the woman claimed she tried to pass the van, when the van veered to the left of the road, preventing her from doing so.
The video clearly shows both vehicles going back and forth over the centre line.
Then the van comes to a sudden stop, with the woman stopping just short of the van’s rear fender. The driver jumps out, running to the back of his vehicle and reaches into a compartment. A passenger in a red shirt can also be seen exiting the vehicle.
The woman puts her vehicle into reverse, and reverses at a fast pace back along the road swerving over the centre line, as she tries to get away.
She claimed the driver grabbed a gun and the passenger had a baseball bat.
The video was posted by the woman’s friend, Julia M., who did not want to give her full name because she is a corrections officer.
“She was following them and the car in front of her was driving weird,” Julia told The News, describing the story she heard the woman behind the wheel.
“They kept kind of brake-checking her, then they would slow down,” she said.
Once the vehicle stopped, said Julia, her friend could see the driver from her side open up his door, and that is when she put her own car into reverse.
At the 26-second mark in the video, noted Julia, the man can be seen reaching into a compartment on the left of the vehicle, and that is when her friend claims the man grabbed a gun.
Then, maybe five seconds later, said Julia, the guy wearing the red shirt pops out from the passenger side of the vehicle and he had a baseball bat.
Although it is really hard to see in the video, her friend said she saw the gun and the baseball bat clearly.
Her friend filed a police report, added Julia.
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Ridge Meadows RCMP confirmed they received a “driving behavior complaint” that took place in the 27100 block area of Dewdney Trunk Road on Wednesday.
“Police did start an investigation and have spoken with the driver,” said the police response.
When asked if they were looking into whether a gun or baseball bat was used in a threatening manor, police said, that they do not discuss ongoing investigations.
“However, in general terms, police investigations will consider a multitude of factors. This can include veracity of statements, facts and witness accounts,” police. said.
Police reported that no collision nor vehicle damage occurred in the incident and their investigation is still ongoing.
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