Road rage in North Van's Superstore parking lot leads to alleged punching, hair pulling

North Vancouver RCMP are seeking help from witnesses to a alleged road rage incident that escalated into punching and hair pulling near the North Vancouver Superstore parking lot last week on Wednesday afternoon.

Bystanders called 911 after a woman driving one vehicle exiting the Superstore parking lot allegedly got into a physical fight with a second woman who was a passenger in a second vehicle, said Const. Mansoor Sahak, spokesperson for the North Vancouver RCMP.

Witnesses told police both vehicles were waiting to turn left out of the grocery store parking lot around 1 p.m. that day when occupants of one vehicle became impatient and began honking at the occupants of the other vehicle, a black Dodge minivan. That apparently angered the driver and passenger of minivan.

Both vehicles stopped shortly after turning out of the parking lot, according to witnesses.

The woman driving the minivan then allegedly got out of her vehicle, walked up to the other vehicle and punched and pulled the hair of the passenger – a woman from West Vancouver in her 20s. The two women didn’t know each other, according to police.

Men who were in both vehicles are believed to have played minimal roles in the incident, added police.

The victims of the road rage were able to get away from the alleged aggressors and drive away, pursued by the minivan for a short distance, said Sahak.

The victims then called police.

Investigators have obtained some photo evidence of the individuals allegedly involved in the assault, but Sahak said they’ve been told a number of witnesses recorded the incident on their phones. Police are asking anyone who saw what took place or who has cellphone or dashcam video to contact police at 604-985-1311 and quote file 23-219.

One woman, a North Vancouver resident in her 40s, was arrested at the scene and will likely face a charge of assault. She has since been released.