TORONTO -- A video posted onto Twitter shows the driver of an Audi SUV mount a sidewalk and nearly strike pedestrians in order to drive past a garbage truck stopped in a Toronto neighbourhood.
Christian Giraldo, who lives along Argyle Street where the incident happened at around 11:15 a.m. Tuesday, told CTV News Toronto that he recorded the scene and posted it onto Twitter immediately.
“I’m in shock. I feel unsafe,” he said. “My neighbour stood her ground in front of the vehicle, and I wanted to too but I got scared and stayed to the side and recorded. I’m feeling very anxious.”
The Toronto resident said he got off the bus from work and was walking along the street to his home when he witnessed the scene.
Several cars were stopped behind a garbage truck, but the driver of the one vehicle decided to take a short cut by climbing onto the sidewalk and maneuvering around pedestrians.
He said there was only a man inside the vehicle.
Giraldo said his neighbour was almost struck by the vehicle as it climbed the sidewalk, but she stayed put and yelled at the driver, telling him that he was being unsafe.
“At first I thought he was just parking, but then I looked closer and saw my neighbour telling the driver that he can’t just do that,” Giraldo said.
“If someone vulnerable was walking there, it could be really unsafe.”
Giraldo said he recently immigrated to Canada from Colombia and is not familiar with the laws here. He said that he wasn’t sure what to do, and decided to post it on social media to get help.
He said he was advised to file a police report, and now plans to do so.
Toronto police told CTV News Toronto that they are aware of the video "circulating on social media" and are reviewing it.
"We’d encourage anyone who has any information to contact police," a spokesperson said Tuesday.
