North Vancouver RCMP are looking for a suspect who threw a liquor bottle through the window of a moving cab, injuring the driver.
The incident happened just before midnight Thursday when the taxi driver was taking a passenger east on 29th Street toward Lynn Valley.
The 375-millilitre bottle of Bombay Sapphire gin smashed through the window and hit the cabbie in the face. He suffered cuts and a broken tooth in what police are calling a serious assault.
“He luckily or miraculously was able to pull over safely to the side of the road after having this gin bottle break his side window and hit him in the head,” said Cpl. Richard De Jong, North Vancouver RCMP spokesman.
The passenger was shaken but not injured. The suspect then fled, possibly north up the trail leading to Princess Park.
Investigators at the scene found a bag of tomatoes, which the suspect may also have been throwing at cars. Police believe a skateboard found abandoned at the scene may also belong to the bottle tosser. They’re hoping someone in the neighbourhood, most likely a parent, will recognize it and help lead police to their suspect.
“Alcohol impacts thought, mood and judgment and we’re assuming it’s a younger person with some peer pressure and a total lack of judgment. At this point, it becomes criminal. Police are concerned that this could have turned out to be a whole lot worse, as far as the driver swerving, a head-on collision – the scenarios are many,” De Jong said.
Police are looking forward to school starting again, De Jong added.
Anyone with information about the assault or the skateboard left at the scene is asked to contact North Vancouver RCMP or, to remain anonymous, call CrimeStoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
