An Ottawa woman claims a couple bumped her with their car and hurled racist insults at her while she was with her baby in a parking lot, but police say no charges will be laid.
Jenny Dao had been celebrating her grandmother’s 88th birthday at a restaurant in the city’s west end with her grandmother, mother, and baby on Friday afternoon. As they crossed the parking lot to get into their vehicle, she said a man drove up and indicated that he wanted to park in the space directly beside their vehicle.
In a Facebook post, Dao said the man and his wife were “impatiently” waiting for her to move out of the way so they could park. She also noted that there were “many other available spots” in the lot.
“He proceeded to drive towards me until I ended up on top of his car. He made contact with me until I was on top of his car so I hit his car to tell him to stop,” she told CTV Ottawa on Wednesday.
Dao didn’t record that moment on her cellphone, but she said she’s hoping the strip mall’s security cameras might have caught it.
After the man allegedly hit her with his car, Dao said she confronted him.
“I said, ‘Are you crazy? I have my baby and my mom and grandmother with me,’” she recalled.
Dao said the couple then proceeded to yell insults at her and mock her Chinese heritage.
“The racial slurs that were shouted were just appalling,” she said. “They told me to go back to my country ‘You bleeping bleeping bleep’ and I said ‘I was born here.’ They kept going with the racial remarks so that’s when I started recording.”
When Dao pulled out her cellphone to take a video, she said the man’s wife walked over to her and tried to swat the device out of her hand, but instead hit her arm. In the clip Dao shared on Facebook, the couple can then be heard trying to imitate a Chinese accent as they walk back to their vehicle.
Speaking to CTV Ottawa, the driver claimed that Dao pounded her fists on his car and that he never hit her with the vehicle.
Earlier Thursday, Ottawa police confirmed they were investigating the alleged assault. Later Thursday, police announced that they finished their investigation after speaking to the couple, who reportedly expressed remorse for their comments, and that no charges will be laid.
Dao, however, said she would just be satisfied if the couple attempted to make amends.
“An apology from them would be a great start,” she said. “It’s just shocking and appalling and it should never happen in 2018 or ever.”
With a report from CTV Ottawa’s Patricia Boal
