Provincial police arrest truck driver for assaulting woman in apparent incident of driving aggression in Ils-aux-Tourtes

Provincial police arrested a man in his 40s this week on suspicion of assaulting a woman during heavy traffic on the Ile-aux-Tourtes bridge.

In a video obtained by CTV News, the woman, Stephanie Ross, can be seen lying on the ground after she was allegedly beaten and knocked unconscious by the man.

The footage also shows the suspect and two construction workers trying to reason with him.

The incident reportedly occurred after a minor accident on the bridge. Ross was trying to figure out what happened after being released from the hospital.

“I remember looking in the rearview mirror and seeing a guy get out of his truck and run toward my truck. And I thought, OK, he's coming to see me because something happened in the back of me,” Ross said while recovering at home from a concussion and other related injuries.

However, she says she never had time to talk to her attacker about what happened.

“At that point, he started to become very, very aggressive. He was already calling me names, really bad names,” she said.

“I told him four times to get away from me. And the only thing I remember is that I was hit, and I was hit so hard. I just lost everything. It was like everything went black. I was deaf. I couldn't hear anything. My ears just started ringing.”

When she regained consciousness, her attacker continued to verbally abuse her, according to Ross.

“You do all this for the show. You're useless…”

One of the construction workers who intervened confirmed Ross' account, telling CTV News: “He was very aggressive. I stood in front of him to at least calm him down.”

“My colleague also had to intervene because the man was too aggressive.”

Finally, someone came to Ross’s aid.

“And I remember a woman running up to me. She said, 'There's not much I can do. So what can I do for you?' And that's when I asked her to call my husband and tell him what's going on and try to find out if anyone calls 911.”

Her husband, Stéphane Saucier, is also a truck driver. He was nearby and rushed to the scene of the accident. He said he was stunned by people's reactions.

“I was outraged that people seemed more concerned about traffic delays given the number of people there,” Saucier said.

According to provincial police, the suspect was released with a promise to appear in court at a later date to face the charges.

CTV News has contacted the transportation company that employs the suspect but has not received a response.