A man who chased three suspected gunmen through Surrey and Delta Monday night says he knows he did the right thing, despite a threat he may face charges.

The man, who asked not to be identified for fear of retaliation, told The Vancouver Sun that he knew he had to ensure the men were arrested after they opened fire on his truck at least three times during the high-speed pursuit.

“I have no regrets,” he said. “If I get charged, at least I am still alive.”

On Tuesday, Surrey RCMP slammed the man’s decision to follow the suspects, whom he first saw acting suspiciously inside a car in his neighbourhood just before 8 p.m.

Sgt. Paul Hayes said “despite repeated requests to stop pursing the suspect vehicle, the citizen refused to comply with our commands.”

But the man told The Sun that the 911 operator at first asked him for the suspect vehicle’s licence plate number, which made him believe he needed to get closer to the car. “They asked me to get the plate. That’s telling me to go after them,” he said.

He said he’s not a vigilante, though has previously tried to get sex trade workers to leave his neighbourhood near 152nd Street and 48th Avenue.

When he saw the men in the car Monday, just sitting in the vehicle and not getting out, he drove his truck up to them and parked it nose to nose to confront them.

“As I pulled up in front of it, there was a guy walking about 25 to 50 yards from the car and I believe he started opening fire on me because I probably scared them,” the man said.

He said the guy walking jumped into the car and it took off. He didn’t know at the time that his back window had been blown out and that there were already bullet holes in his truck.

The next 30 minutes were like a scene out of an action movie.

The man dialed 911 as he chased the car up his road, north on 152nd. The suspects cut through a gas station and onto Highway 10.

“I went around a couple of vehicles and went east on Highway 10 following them. Then the 911 operator asked me for their plate so I said ‘OK, I’ll get as close to them as possible,’” the man said.

“When I got close to them, they opened fire again. That’s when the bullet went right through the windshield by my head and the glass shattered in my face and I started bleeding.”

Until that point, he wasn’t even sure they had a real gun.

“Once I saw the hole in the windshield and the blood on my face, I said ‘oh my god, it’s real.’ I am backing off. I gave (the 911 operator) the plate. They kept firing at me. I stayed about 500 yards back.”

The chase continued through Surrey towards White Rock, then onto Highway 99 northbound — where he was shot at again — before finally into Delta and onto River Road.