When a Richmond mom was driving her daughter to school last week, she wasn’t expecting or anticipating any drama.
And Lilian Zhang certainly didn’t expect to be verbally and racially abused when her vehicle pulled up to a red light at Williams Road and Railway Avenue last Friday.
But that’s exactly what Zhang said happened, thanks to a tirade from a cyclist - who was sitting on his bike next to them at the lights.
“He said (swear words), ‘why are you here?’ ‘why don’t you go back to your country?’” recalled Zhang.
“I got out the car to try to find out what happened and why he did it to us, but he got away on his bike.”
Zhang then followed the man, who was biking northbound on Railway Avenue, as he continued to shout abuse at her and her teenage daughter.
It was then that Zhang said the cyclist made some sexual gestures and even exposed his genitals to them.
She managed to capture the end of the altercation on video (see above), but was too stunned to record the main part of the incident.
“I was very angry. He did it knowing that my daughter was in the car,” added Zhang, who called the police after the incident.
”My daughter is a minor and it was unfortunate that she had to see it.”
Zhang took a video of the biker and hopes to warn others about him.
The RCMP confirmed the incident with the Richmond News and said they were still investigating the matter.
Richmond RCMP said it received a report of a “suspicious male cyclist who allegedly approached a woman in a vehicle stopped in the area of 4900 block of Williams Road.”
“A verbal exchange ensued including allegedly profanity directed at the woman. The cyclist then left the scene,” said Cpl. Dennis Hwang.
He said Zhang handled the matter “correctly” by contacting the RCMP, “especially if the interaction was concerning.”
