Woman recovering after road rage attack in northwest Calgary

The woman beaten by two men during a road rage incident says they repeatedly smashed her head into her vehicle, cutting her lip and breaking her glasses.

Karalie Red Old Man said she was driving her daughter from piano practice on Wednesday evening when a BMW started honking because it couldn't pass her van at the intersection of 4th Street and 40th Avenue N.W.

Police say the BMW aggressively tailgated the van, hitting the back of it at one point. When she stopped near the Mount Pleasant Sportsplex in the 2400 block of 6th Street N.W., police said the BMW boxed her in.

• How to stay safe in a road rage incident

"He pulled my head out of the vehicle and I wasn't able to fight back because my arms and my body were still in the vehicle," she said.

"He proceeded to grab my head in the back and he kept banging and smashing my face on the vehicle."

Red Old Man said she grabbed a hockey stick from the van to defend herself and they started fighting over it.

"Somehow he got the hockey stick away from me and he started smashing out my windows on the driver's side while my daughter was still in the vehicle."

She said when her husband showed up the brother of the man she was grappling with joined the fight.

When bystanders called police, the men drove away in a silver, two-door BMW with Alberta plates.

Police said the vehicle likely has damage to its front end and passenger side.

"My mouth was bleeding and there was blood all over," she said.

"They chipped my tooth and they broke my glasses."

Criminologist Doug King said it would be hard to speculate why two men would attack a woman.

"It's hard to put yourself in that situation," he told CBC News.

"There's within criminological theory, an explanation for road rage that relates to the frustration, aggression theory, that when people get frustrated, they tend to get quite aggressive and that kind of aggression can translate into violence in some situations."

Speaking on CBC Radio'sAlberta@Noon, Staff Sgt. Paul Stacey of the Calgary police TrafficUnit said if it becomes clear that a confrontation is inevitable, or you feel that someone might be following you, it's best to call police or drive toa public place with people around.

Police say they are looking for two men in their early 20s, with dark brown or black hair and medium builds.

Anyone with information is asked to call police at 403-266-1234 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

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