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Passenger's road rage left Moncton couple reeling, removing shards of glass

Danielle Furlong, right, and her partner Logan Knowles show a piece of glass that was found in their car after a stranger kicked in the passenger window during a red-light stop in Moncton. (Mrinali Anchan/CBC - image credit)
Danielle Furlong, right, and her partner Logan Knowles show a piece of glass that was found in their car after a stranger kicked in the passenger window during a red-light stop in Moncton. (Mrinali Anchan/CBC - image credit)

Danielle Furlong says she screamed as she removed shards of glass from her cat's fur after a stranger kicked in the front passenger window of her car.

Furlong, her partner Logan Knowles and their cat Nibs were driving on Mapleton Road when they had to merge onto Trinity Drive. To maintain the flow of traffic, Furlong said in an interview, she merged swiftly, pulling ahead of a red Hyundai Elantra for the manoeuvre. The move was signalled and done safely, she said.

But when the driver of the Elantra braked, Furlong and Knowles noticed the male passenger in the vehicle was agitated.

As they stopped at the red light, what followed was something the couple would have never imagined: the passenger in the red vehicle left the car, walked up to Furlong's car and kicked in the front passenger-side window, where Knowles and the cat sat.

Submitted by Danielle Furlong
Submitted by Danielle Furlong

"I was met with the heel of a boot and just a cascade of glass showering in," Knowles said as he recalled the encounter that left him, Furlong and their cat with minor cuts.

As they checked on the cat, the man from the other car yelled, "What the f--k was that?" Then he got back into the red car, and the woman at the wheel drove on.

Furlong was disappointed when surrounding drivers and bystanders didn't stop to offer help.

"No one stopped to check on us . … It was a busy intersection. Everyone just drove off."

Submitted by Danielle Furlong
Submitted by Danielle Furlong

'What would justify this?'

Shortly after, the pair pulled into a vacant lot next to a closed-down Costco on Trinity Drive and called the Codiac RCMP.

The detachment confirmed to CBC News that a file has been opened into the matter.

Knowles and Furlong could see no circumstance in which it would be acceptable for someone to act in this way.

"We have no history of knowing this person, they're a complete stranger," Knowles said. "They gained nothing from this incident. Nothing was stolen. It was just a random, unmeditated act of unmitigated rage."

Submitted by Danielle Furlong
Submitted by Danielle Furlong

On Thursday, the couple were able to repair their car at a cost of $250.

"We're not very well off," Knowles said. "Like, we get by, but the $250, that's a pretty big setback for us, that's a good portion of rent or groceries that we didn't need to pay for, and we shouldn't be responsible for paying for it."

But beyond the financial cost, the incident left the couple feeling robbed of their safety, and they have decided to move away from the city.

"We're hoping for this to just be resolved and the person be held accountable for their actions," said Knowles. "Like you can't just kick a window in in broad daylight in front of witnesses and get away with that."