A pregnant woman survived being dragged by a car, thanks in part to witnesses who blocked the driver’s path.
The incident happened in Nanaimo Saturday shortly before 4:30 p.m., when police received a 911 call that a woman was being dragged by a vehicle down Bruce Avenue in the Harewood area.
The 27-year-old woman was dragged for nearly a kilometre before a man and his two sons following the car were able to pull their pickup in front of the car to block its path.
“The reason it took so long for them to stop the car was there was oncoming traffic and they had to wait for it to clear before they could pull around in front it,” said Const. Gary O’Brien, Nanaimo RCMP spokesman.
O’Brien said the incident was part of a domestic dispute that started earlier in the day.
The woman was trying to get out of the passenger door of car as it was moving, but was unable to get free because her boyfriend was allegedly holding onto her hair.
The witnesses, who asked police to withhold their identities, told police the woman was dragged at speeds of 30 km/h to 50 km/h.
The driver’s three-year-old daughter was also in the car.
The man driving the pickup and his older son were able to get the woman out of the car and take her to a nearby home, from which B.C. Ambulance paramedics took her to Nanaimo Regional General Hospital.
O’Brien said the woman was suffering from shock and serious abrasions to one leg. She also suffered bruising and other injuries from an assault earlier in the day, which included allegedly being punched in the stomach. The woman is three months pregnant.
Police arrested Jay Paul Guzina, 35, of Nanaimo, at about 5:45 p.m. at a home on Townsite Road.
Guzina was charged with assault, forcible confinement and dangerous operation of a motor vehicle. He is scheduled to appear in Nanaimo provincial court April 24.
