West Vancouver woman says she was attacked from behind after filming 'abusive' group on bus

A West Vancouver woman says she was attacked from behind after filming a group of people who were verbally abusing a bus driver.

Karin Ericson says she jumped on a bus on West Georgia Street late Saturday night after watching the fireworks at English Bay. It was cruising along normally, before an altercation broke out between the driver and a group of young people.

“The group became very rude, very disorderly, really harassed him,” she told CTV News.

Ericson says the bus driver called for transit security to remove the group, but says they were ultimately allowed to stay on.

“He was clearly upset about this as he wanted them off the bus,” she said about the driver.

Ericson says after the abusive behaviour continued she decided to pull out her phone and record it to support him.

"The one girl started yelling at me that I shouldn't be filming the situation, saying I should have asked for permission and that it was illegal,” She said.

Ericson says conversations between she and the group continued until she got off in front of Park Royal Mall in West Vancouver, that’s when things got really ugly.

"Completely blindsided. One of them hit me over the head and threw me onto the street face down,” she said.

"I just remember being head down with a thud going, 'What just happened?'" she continued.

"I jumped up, blood was coming out and I chased them,”

Ericson says transit security was already on scene and stopped the group, and that police arrived shortly after.

 

The incident has left her with a broken nose and concussion, as well as bruising and scrapes on her face and knee.

 

Ericson says ultimately her injuries will heal, and that she would do the same thing over again. But she does worry that people are becoming increasingly scared to speak up or intervene.

 

"Are we going to turn into a country, a province that walks away from helping because were worried about repercussions of what could happen to us?" she asks.

 

“When someone’s being bullied, when some’s being harassed, it’s hard to just sit back and watch,”

 

Meanwhile, the West Vancouver Police Department won’t confirm it’s the same incident, but says it was called to the mall shortly after 1 a.m. Sunday for an assault.

“A 22-year-old female was arrested at the scene and has been released with conditions for a court date in November. Charges have not yet been recommended or approved,” an spokesperson wrote in a statement.