Vancouver police search for man who pushed victim into traffic

Vancouver police are appealing for help as they investigate a strange assault where a man was seriously injured when he was pushed into the path of an oncoming vehicle.

Police say it happened on East Hastings Street on the night of July 15 after two men stopped to check on the well-being of a woman who appeared intoxicated.

The woman assured them she was fine but police say in a news release that the men were confronted moments later by an agitated man who had been walking behind the woman.

Police say in a news release the man pushed a 37-year-old Surrey man into the street, where he was hit and seriously injured by a sport utility vehicle.

The driver of the vehicle pulled over and other witnesses tried to hold the suspect for police, but both the man and the woman, believed to be his friend, ran off.

Const. Jason Doucette says the victim is still recovering and detectives want to speak to anyone with information about the attack or the suspect, described as in his mid-20s, about six feet tall, with a heavy, athletic build.

“We have obtained dash-cam video from the SUV involved in the collision,” Doucette says in the release. “We are asking the suspect to turn himself in, but if he doesn’t, we are confident that someone will come forward to identity him and his friend.”