Woman pushed off bike, injured during bizarre incident on North Vancouver trail

The area of Spirit Trail is seen in a Google Maps image shared by North Vancouver RCMP.

Police are investigating a bizarre incident that unfolded earlier this year on a North Vancouver trail, and ended with a woman being pushed off her bike and seriously injured.

North Vancouver RCMP said the woman was riding on the Spirit Trail on the afternoon of July 10 when a man claiming to be an off-duty police officer instructed another man to stop her.

The man complied and ended up causing the woman to fall and suffer serious but non-life-threatening injuries, authorities said.

Const. Mansoor Sahak said authorities have already arrested a suspect they believe was the man posing as an officer, and confirmed he is not actually in law enforcement – but their investigation is ongoing, and they are asking anyone who witnessed the incident to come forward.

"We're asking also for the person who pushed the cyclist to come forward," Sahak told CTV News. "We haven't spoken with him, so we want to get his side of the story."

Authorities believe there were multiple witnesses who interacted with the man posing as a police officer, and who haven't yet spoken with North Vancouver RCMP.

The suspect's name hasn't been released because charges have not been laid, Sahak said.

Asked why the RCMP waited four months to put out a call for witnesses, Sahak said authorities wanted to exhaust their other investigative avenues before appealing to the public.

North Vancouver RCMP urged anyone with information to call the detachment’s Serious Crime Unit at 604-969-7506.