Newmarket
July 19, 2008 09:59 PM
Martial arts instructor admits to losing temper even though he tells students to stay cool
By: Patrick Mangion
A local martial arts instructor, stabbed during a road rage incident last Thursday, will tell his young students he made a mistake, when asked to explain his heavily bandaged forearm.
RCF Ultimate Family Martial Arts Centre owner Ilan Rosenberg thought his attacker tried to kill him and credits his specialized Israeli combat training with saving his life.
“I tell my students, ‘Keep your distance and don’t lose your temper,’” Mr. Rosenberg said.
But while driving home along Bloomington Road in Aurora Thursday afternoon, he broke those rules.
A dump truck driver pulled out from a construction site, holding up traffic while the vehicle slowly accelerated.
Angry motorists were forced to slow to a near stop, Mr. Rosenberg said.
Two vehicles were between him and the dump truck. He waited for a break in oncoming traffic and pulled around the truck in his Jeep Wrangler.
What happened next is unclear.
The driver of the dump truck aggressively pursued him, Mr. Rosenberg said.
He was forced to tap his brakes to create distance from the dump truck. Instead, the truck driver rear-ended his Jeep, Mr. Rosenberg said.
However, police have a different version of events based on both drivers’ accounts of the incident.
After passing the truck, Mr. Rosenberg pulled in front of the dump truck and slammed on his brakes, causing the truck to rear end him, Const. Gary Phillips said.
When both men got out of their vehicles, Mr. Rosenberg threw the first punch and the truck driver then stabbed him, police said.
Mr. Rosenberg, however, tells a different story.
After both drivers pulled onto the shoulder, he sprang from his Jeep, climbed up to the driver’s cabin of the dump truck and let loose an expletive-filled exchange with the driver, he said.
That’s when the dump truck driver grabbed a small serrated steak knife and stabbed Mr. Rosenberg in his left forearm.
Mr. Rosenberg avoided a second blow, directed at his face, from the knife-wielding truck driver and punched his attacker in the face before climbing down and wrapping his injured arm with his shirt.
“I don’t disagree that I made a mistake. Unfortunately, I lost my temper. I teach (my students) to stay within the rules. I should have practised what I preach,” he told The Era-Banner.
He called 911 and drove himself to Southlake Regional Health Centre in Newmarket where he received emergency surgery to repair nerve damage to his injured arm, he said.
York police arrested Mr. Rosenberg as he sat bleeding in the hospital waiting room.
The driver of the dump truck, 43-year-old Toronto resident Joshua Shirley has been charged with assault with a weapon and assault causing bodily harm.
Mr. Rosenberg was charged with assault and dangerous driving. He is scheduled to appear in court next month.
Mr. Shirley and owner of the dump truck, BNB Haulage Inc. in Ajax, could not be reached for comment.
With more vehicles on York Region’s crowded roads, drivers need to allow themselves more travel time, Const. Phillips said.
“If we all drove with more respect, we could avoid unnecessary road rage incidents,” he said.
“Being impatient and being behind the wheel don’t mix.”