Man arrested after vehicle reportedly swarmed by motorcycles, forced to stop along West Vancouver highway

WEST VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) -A man has been arrested after a vehicle was apparently surrounded and forced off the road by a group of motorcycles in West Vancouver on Thursday.

West Vancouver Police says witnesses reported seeing about 15 motorcycles driving west on the Upper Levels around 7:10 p.m.

Cst. Kevin Goodmurphy says the motorcyclists essentially forced the vehicle off the road by slowing down, but that’s not where it ended.

“One of the motorcyclists is alleged to have then walked up to the driver’s side of the vehicle and very aggressively open the door and forcefully grabbed the driver from the driver’s seat and began using quite threatening language,” he explains.

The group then left the scene before officers arrived, but with the help of the Squamish RCMP, Goodmurphy says police were able to find the large group as they entered that community.

“They were then held there and detained at the scene until our officers attended and ended up arresting one individual, who was later released at West Vancouver Police headquarters.”

That person is possibly facing criminal charges, but none have been laid so far. Goodmurphy says the investigation is ongoing.

It’s unclear what may have led up to this interaction. Police say while the investigation is still in its early stages, there’s nothing to indicate these motorcyclists were part of an organized group.

‘Extremely frightening’

While it may be startling to witness something like this happen, police say it’s, of course, much worse for the person who’s said to have been involved.

“You can imagine, yourself, traveling along the highway at highway speeds being surrounded by this many motorcycles and, as I said, being forced to pull over and stop on the road would have been extremely frightening,” Goodmurphy explains. “I can only imagine how this person felt during the incident.”

Police are thankful for the witnesses who immediately called 9-1-1 after seeing what happened. Goodmurphy says there were “multiple callers to 9-1-1” to report what had happened.

He adds while the incident may have been frightening, Goodmurphy describes what happened as also “extremely dangerous.”

Police are encouraging anyone who may have information about this incident to come forward. You can contact West Vancouver Police at 604.925.7300 and quote police file number 19-6135, or contact Crime Stoppers at 1.800.222.8477.

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