A frightening road rage incident in Richmond was caught on dashcam video by the victim.
The victim, who only wants to be identified as Mr. Chin, said he was driving home last Sunday afternoon, Aug. 21, at around 5 p.m. when a white cube van cut in front of him as he travelled south on No. 1 Road close to Blundell Road.
Chin said he had to slam on his brakes to avoid a collision, as the driver of the van sped off south on No. 1 Road.
Chin followed the van, honking for a while at him, before the van driver turned right onto Williams Road, which was actually Chin’s normal route home.
A few seconds later, he pulled alongside the van, which had now stopped on Williams, and that’s when things started to turn ugly.
In one of the videos recorded by Chin, the van driver claims he signalled to pull in front of Chin, suggesting that Chin speeded up to stop him making the move.
The white, male van driver then made a racist remark towards Chin, who is of Asian ethnicity.
The van driver then took off, followed by Chin, before the van pulled over again just around the corner.
“I pulled alongside him again, asking him to call the police. That’s when he got out and lunged at me through my open window with a pole or something,” Chin told the Richmond News.
“He was trying to smash me with his weapon. I tried to get away by driving forward, then he poked three dents to the passenger side of my car.
“I stopped the car and got out. He got around the back of my car and lunged at me, trying to hit me with his weapon.
“I tried to video record him on my phone but he tried to grab my phone from my hand.”
Chin said he then ran away to avoid getting assaulted.
The van driver, according to Chin, couldn’t catch him and got back into his vehicle and drove off, flipping Chin the finger.
Richmondite wants van driver to face justice
Chin then called the police to report the incident.
“I was angry at the time, but now I just want this guy to face some justice,” added Chin.
“I don’t remember being scared. I followed him because I wanted him to know what he had done. I could have been injured.
“He then got racist with me and that can’t be allowed to happen either.”
Chin said there were nearby residents watching the incident unfold but he doesn’t think they told the police what they saw.
He said he was told by police that the van was a rental and that they’re working towards identifying the other driver.
Richmond RCMP said the suspect is a white male in his late 50s with a medium build.
“Fortunately, the complainant was not physically injured, however, we recognize the impact these types of hate-based incidents have on the victim as well as our wider community,” said Cpl. Adriana O’Malley.
“We want to assure the public that our frontline investigators are engaged and actively working to identify the suspect involved in this alleged mischief.”
This investigation remains active and ongoing, added police.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Richmond RCMP at 604-278-1212 and quote file number 2022-22582.
