What started out as a war of words between a 47-year old taxi driver and a 23-year old passenger quickly escalated to a hit-and-run incident that took place in Montreal, Canada, around 4 am this past Sunday, April 29.

Canada’s Ottawacitizen identified the cab driver as Guercy Edmond, 47, of Laval, and the young man as Benoit Kapelli, 23.

The police have yet to determine what caused the conflict though at least two separate eyewitnesses recorded the incident on film. According to the first person that videotaped the scene, it all started when for unknown reasons a passenger slammed the door of the Toyota Camry cab.

“It began with one of the passengers slamming the door to the cab too hard on exiting the cab,” wrote YouTube user Ilaneloc.

“Cab driver jumped out and confronted him on the sidewalk while the other passengers remained inside to pay. I left the scene as the verbal conflict escalated, presuming it would run itself out… I returned home to hear the commotion outside, where the conflict had escalated and the cab driver was aiming his cab in the wrong direction down St-Laurent towards the former passengers,” explained Ilaneloc.

From there on, as you can see in the first video, several people including Kapelli began kicking and throwing things towards the Camry taxi. The next scene that follows sees one unidentified man jumping onto the cab’s roof as the driver was trying to leave while Kapelli ran in front to kick the car. The taxi driver then pushed forward running over Kapelli who is seen in a second video hurt but alive.

The cabbie sped off but was later arrested and is held in custody until his bail hearing on Wednesday. Edmond was charged with aggravated assault causing bodily harm and for abandoning the scene of an accident during which someone was injured.

As for Kapelli, the young man suffered serious injuries, but he is said to be in stable condition.

WARNING: The following video contains graphic content of a man being run over by a car. There’s also a second video on YouTube shot from a different angle, but be advised, it’s age restricted and the content is even more graphic, which is why we chose not to include it in this posting.

Thanks to Caroline for bringing the story to our attention

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