A traumatized mother is bruised and nursing several stitches after a repulsive act of road rage.
“I’m glad I am alive and here for my family and they didn’t lose me last night.”
Karalie Red Old Man, 28, and her nine-year-old daughter were on their way to pick up her husband and her sons from hockey practice at the West Mount Pleasant arena.
Red Old Man was driving a black Dodge Caravan south on 4 Street N.W. near 40 Avenue N.W. when a BMW tried to pass her at about 5:20 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 7. She said the BMW was tailgating her, honking and trying to force her into oncoming traffic. The vehicle then rammed into the back of her minivan, she said. They ended up together in the arena parking lot.
“He started yelling at me to get out of the vehicle. He grabbed my hair and pulled my head out the window,” Red Old Man recalled. “I couldn’t get my arms out to fight back and he started banging my neck and my face and my mouth on the window.
“My daughter was screaming and crying to stop and he still wouldn’t stop.”
The despicable act intensified when she reached for a hockey stick from her van to try and defend herself, but the offender wrestled it away and smashed the windows.
“I grabbed the hockey stick he was throwing me all over the place,” Red Old Man told Global News. “I was really scared but I knew I had to protect myself and my family and tried my best to fight him off until someone came to help me.”
Her husband heard the screams for help and ran to his wife. The suspect and his passenger got back into the car and sped off – but nearly ran Red Old Man over as she laid in the parking lot, she said.
“I am scared to go out of my house and I am scared I can’t protect my children.”
Calgary Police Insp. Darren Leggatt called it a “deplorable act of violence.”
The two suspects are described as in their early 20s with dark brown or black hair and medium builds. Police said one was wearing a light grey/white shirt.
The BMW is described as a silver two-door with an Alberta licence plate, likely with extensive damage to the front passenger side and front bumper.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Calgary Police Service at 403-266-1234 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477.
Red Old Man took a few pictures of the vehicle as it fled the scene. She is pleading for justice.
“The reason I am asking for help is so this doesn’t happen to anyone else.”
With files from Erika Tucker
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