Women encounter ‘crazy man’ during frightful drive
Two women say they were left with rattled nerves after a man they don’t know tried to run them off a highway in Manitoba’s Interlake.
Birdeen Malchuk and her daughter Kim Kennedy say they were driving on a deserted stretch of Highway 7 early Saturday morning when a car passed them, then turned around and drove straight at them before whizzing by at close range.
The frightening tactic was repeated over a 10- to 15-minute period but the women were not hurt. Kennedy says she counted four passes, each more terrifying than the last.
They returned to the highway in daylight to get pictures of burnt rubber marks on the road and a narrow strip of shredded tire.
RCMP confirm they were contacted about the incident but say without a licence number there isn’t much chance of finding the driver.
Malchuk said it took all her concentration to maintain her focus on staying on the road at the same time she was veering away from the motorist.
“The flashbacks are just killing me and I’m a pretty tough broad,” said Malchuk, who at 76 figures she’s driven that stretch of highway from her own home in Brandon “500 times.”
“I’m sure it was random. He wouldn’t have known us, but how do you know? This guy is a crazy man and he’s out there.
He could try it again.”
Knowing the two-lane highway like the back of her hand is the only thing that kept her on the road, she said.
“I’m sure it was random. He wouldn’t have known us, but how do you know? This guy is a crazy man and he’s out there. He could try it again,” said Malchuk. “We got hysterical. I had to keep my hands on the wheel. I saw him coming. And I cranked the wheel to the right. I barely got my car out of the way. He missed us by inches.”
Other than their location — about three to six kilometres north of Teulon — Kennedy said she recalled seeing a wall of blue smoke and a pair of glaring headlights amid the smell of burning rubber. The car appeared to be a light-coloured older model.
“He came up behind us on the right side of the road, to begin with,” Kennedy said. “And passed us, going about 140 kilometres an hour. Then about two miles up the road, he turned around, burnt rubber doing that and came flying by us again.”
“Then he turned around again and came up behind us on the passenger side (on the shoulder). Again. And he turned around and came straight at us,” Kennedy said. “When he came back at us on the passenger side, he, like, barely touched my door with his car.”
Kennedy said she called 911 after the first pass, but neither woman made a report in person to RCMP. The call involved an older white car speeding northbound on Highway 7 and passing her followed by the vehicle turning around and driving straight at her, said RCMP Sgt. Paul Manaigre said.
RCMP had no details on the second head-on pass that the women recounted in their emergency call, but Manaigre indicated Malchuk reacted with the kind of defensive moves they recommend to drivers.
“Drivers are encouraged to use any means necessary to keep themselves safe if they encounter a dangerous driving vehicle,” he said. “Efforts should be made to pull over to the side of the road and come to a complete stop and report the incident immediately to the police.”