Nunavut court: Iqaluit road rage beef leaves taxi driver with bloodied face

The trial of a former Iqaluit taxi driver continues May 23 in the Nunavut Court of Justice. (FILE PHOTO)

Violent road rage can erupt in a parking lot as easily as on the road, a Nunavut court heard May 22.

Taxi driver Abdullahi Omar appeared at the Nunavut Court of Justice in Iqaluit on five charges related to an incident this past Jan. 30, when Omar and Daniel Hodgson got into a fight over vehicle space in front of Hodgson’s laundry and dry cleaning business.

In that incident, Omar is alleged to have used a pocket knife and a taxi cab as assault weapons, and is also charged with dangerous driving and uttering threats.

Evidence that Omar and Hodgson gave before Justice Robert Kilpatrick May 22 shows they agree that Hodgson punched Omar in the face at least three times, leaving the accused bloodied at the end of the incident.

Omar had stopped his taxi-cab in an area in front Qikiqtani Laundry Services Ltd. at building 1057.

The dispute began when Hodgson arrived to unload his truck, as Omar was partially blocking his space in front of a door.

In addition to the complainant and the accused, four RCMP officers appeared as witnesses.

Asked by defence lawyer Paul Falvo about what he saw when police arrived, Cst. Garrett Moore said “I noticed right away Mr. Omar was bleeding on the face.”

Cst. Steven Huff, the next witness, agreed, saying Omar, seated in his cab, had a “cut lip and spoke of some teeth and a headache.”

Police called an emergency services attendant to check on his injuries. Omar received three stitches to close a wound to his upper lip after his arrest.

Asked about Hodgson’s emotional state, Huff said the business-owner was “very excited.”

“I asked him to calm down,” Huff said, saying such reactions are common in assault cases.

Hodgson told the court that late in the morning of Jan. 30, he arrived to park a large truck in a space he normally uses to unload laundry.

“He wasn’t blocking my spot, I just couldn’t turn around,” Hodgson said. “All he needed to do was to pull ahead and back up.”

Hodgson said he signalled Omar, whose car was idling, to back up.

Omar then “threw up his hands,” said Hodgson.

“I signalled again, and he gave me the finger.”

Hodgson said he then got out of his truck to ask Omar to move.

At this point Omar, according to Hodgson, emerged from his car and “pulled a knife from his jacket pocket,” which he started swinging at Hodgson.

“How close was he?” Crown lawyer Amanda O’Leary asked.

“Close enough that I punched him,” said Hodgson. He said Omar could not slash him with the pocket knife because “his arms were too short.”

Hogdson said Omar fell to the ground after he punched him up to three times.

He later told defence lawyer Falvo that he punched the cab driver “in the face” three or four times.

Hodgson told Falvo that parking difficulties were common at building 1057, but that he had had “no problems” with this before.

After the fight, Hodgson said Omar got back behind the wheel of his taxi and tried to hit him with the car.

Omar drove his car back and forth, ramming it into the building on his first run, Hodgson said.

To shield himself, “I was hiding behind my back bumper,” he said.

Omar’s car eventually got stuck on a small snowbank when police arrived, Hodgson said.

But Omar denied he made obscene gestures to Hodgson.

In a reply to Hodgson’s gestures to move, Omar said he pointed over his shoulder to indicate he was waiting for a customer at the gas bar.

“I signalled I’m waiting,” Omar said in halting English.

“Normally I move over to let cars come to Baffin [Gas Convenience store], so I was over at the side, in the middle of the two,” he said, referring to the gas station and laundry service.

Omar, 47, told Falvo he is originally from Somalia, having emigrated to Canada in 1989.

He moved to Iqaluit from Yellowknife in 2011, and lived in the Nunavut capital for “almost one and a half years.”

Omar returned to Iqaluit from his new residence in Toronto for the trial.

Omar said his encounter with Hodgson grew heated when the business-owner emerged from his truck, approached the taxi and yelled “you’ll pay the price.”

Omar emerged from his taxi, he said. Hodgson then grabbed him by the shoulders of his jacket, “and started punching me.”

After that, Omar returned to his car to grab a pocket knife, he said.

“It was fast, I just said leave me alone,” Omar said. “I wasn’t looking for trouble. I didn’t want to fight this guy.”

Omar said he took shelter from Hodgson’s threats inside his taxi, and drove back and forth in an attempt to leave the area, but could not do that due to heavy traffic.

RCMP officers said they arrived in response to a call from a female employee working at Hodgson’s business at the time.

Kilpatrick ended the trial for the day when Crown attorney O’Leary cut short her cross-examination of Omar to request a voir dire on Omar’s statements to police.

A voir dire is a trial within a trial held to determine the admissibility of certain evidence.

That request, Kilpatrick said, should have been made before the start of the trial.

“In my 30 years of practicing law I have never seen the Crown ask for this without notifying the defence,” he said.

Kilpatrick told the Crown he would allow her “to review that point.”

He noted Omar had travelled to Iqaluit to resolve the case, as did lawyer Falvo, who was due to return to Yellowknife in two days.

“I don’t want the trial to go off the rails at this point,” Kilpatrick said, and called for the trial to continue to a conclusion after it reconvenes May 23.