Police looking for a suspect after a 37-year-old Surrey man was shoved into traffic in Vancouver

Man was pushed into traffic, hit by an SUV near the PNE earlier this month

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Vancouver Police have released some dashcam footage showing a man being shoved into traffic, in the hopes of identifying the person responsible.

It happened on Sunday, July 15 at about 10:30 p.m. on E. Hastings Street near Windermere Street.

Police say two men were leaving a concert at the PNE Amphitheatre and were walking along the sidewalk on the north side of Hastings Street when they stopped to check on a young woman who appeared intoxicated.

“She said she was fine. So, they kept going,” says VPD Cst. Jason Doucette. “There was no other contact with this suspect. Seconds later, he just runs up behind them and pushes the male, which puts him into traffic and he gets run over.”

He adds the 37-year-old victim from Surrey had serious injuries. “They are now considered to be non-life threatening. But I’m sure there will be some life-changing effects.”

Police don’t think the suspect or the victim knew each other, nor that the two had any contact before this incident.

The driver of the vehicle, a white SUV, pulled over and waited for police.

“He had no time to stop. He was not at fault, here,” says Doucette.

Some witnesses at the scene tried to restrain the suspect, but they were gone before police arrived.

“Shortly after the man was pushed into traffic, the woman and [the suspect] met up together and the two of them ran off,” says Doucette.

He notes they don’t believe this was a random attack. “Based on the information we have right now, we believe that the conversation they had with the young woman and him being pushed into traffic were related.”

Police have released a composite sketch of the suspect.

A composite sketch of a suspect in an assault where a man was pushed into oncoming traffic on E. Hastings Street on July 15, 2018. (Courtesy: Vancouver Police)

“We’re asking the suspect to turn himself in,” says Doucette. “We know there is always more than one side to the story. We want to find out what his intentions were and get to the bottom of this.”

The suspect is described as a white man in his mid-20s. He was 6’0″ to 6’2″ tall with a heavy athletic build. He had short dark hair and dark stubble on his face, and was wearing a black crew-neck t-shirt and dark shorts.

The woman is described as Asian, in her early to mid-20s, and 5’2″ to 5’4″ tall. She has a slim build and medium-length black hair. She is believed to have been wearing a white tank-top or possibly a sun dress.

Doucette emphasizes the two men who checked on the woman did nothing wrong. “The problem isn’t that they were compassionate. The problem is this person over-reacted and caused injuries.”

If you have any information about this case, you’re asked to call detectives at 604-717-2541 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

– With files from Sonia Aslam