Video shows man push shopping cart into Toronto bike lane, sending rider crashing

• UPDATE: Toronto police have arrested a suspect in connection with this incident.
• CBC Toronto has removed the images and video in this story as a result.

A video shared online this week shows what appears to be a brazen attack in a Toronto bike lane where a man launches a shopping cart at an e-bike rider, sending him crashing into the pavement.

David Shellnutt, a lawyer and cycling advocate who shared the video to his X account, formerly Twitter, says the incident happened just before 10 a.m. Tuesday on Danforth Avenue near Monarch Park Avenue. 

In the security footage, a man is seen walking along a city sidewalk pushing a shopping cart. The man then pushes the cart into the bike lane beside the sidewalk, hitting a man riding an e-bike. The man on the e-bike then crashes to the ground as the other man continues to walk away. 

In the video, the man on the e-bike has a large bag attached to his bike, commonly used by food delivery workers. Shellnutt says he's been told another cyclist stopped to help the man, who is seen sitting up in the video after the crash.

Shellnutt says he saw the video making the rounds on social media and shared it in hopes someone could help identify the man who pushed the shopping cart.

"It's important to get the perpetrator here," he said in an interview Wednesday. "To bring them to justice and ensure that no one else is injured."

Toronto police did not verify the video, but said it matched the description of an alleged assault that was called in at the same time and in the same area that Shellnutt says the video was captured.

The caller in that incident told police they saw a person push someone off an e-bike in a bike lane, police spokesperson Viktor Sarudi said in an email. Saruki said officers spoke with the victim, who was taken to hospital with minor injuries. Police are now investigating.

'We really need to bring the temperature down,' Shellnutt says

Shellnutt, also known as The Biking Lawyer, says he believes the attack reflects a pattern of aggression toward cyclists in the city in recent years.

"This is a manifestation of anti-cyclist rhetoric, anti-delivery, e-bike courier rhetoric, and really increased tension on our roadways since the pandemic," he said. 

"We really need to bring the temperature down and realize that everybody's just trying to work and get home safely."

Tensions over bike lanes in the city have also gone up in recent months, Shellnut said, since the province introduced legislation that gives them the power to remove three major bike lanes in Toronto. 

An Ontario Superior Court justice granted an injunction against their removal this week, prompting Premier Doug Ford to rant against the justice who made the decision, calling him a "bleeding heart." Ford has said removing the bike lanes would help ease congestion in the city.