FREDERIC SERRE
The 1019 Report

Three months after a female trucker was beaten unconscious during a shocking road rage incident on the Île aux Tourtes Bridge, the victim finally came face to face with her alleged attacker last Friday at the Valleyfield courthouse, where he was formally charged with one count of assault causing bodily harm.

Trucker Kirwin Labissiere, 47, of Terrebonne pleaded not guilty.

The victim in the road rage incident, trucker Stephanie Ross, was also in court to watch the proceeding. She had mixed feelings as she sat 20 feet away from her alleged assailant outside the courtroom as she and her husband and lawyer waited for her case to be heard.

“I never recognized him, nothing was triggered in my brain,” Ross said in an interview with The 1019 Report. “He changed his appearance and was walking around with a mask on his face. He just kept his head down. He definitely seemed surprised that I was there.”

Ross is still recovering from the concussion she suffered Aug. 21 during the fender-bender incident, which forced the closure of the bridge in both directions for several hours as paramedics and SQ officers did their best to reach the scene. According to the SQ, the road rage incident was sparked by a dispute as both trucks were stuck in heavy traffic in the westbound lane on the span at about 3:30 p.m.

A shocking video of the brazen attack, obtained by The 1019 Report and other media, showed Ross, a resident of Morin Heights, being punched in the head and knocked unconscious by a male trucker. The video also showed two Transport Quebec employees trying to reason with Ross’s attacker, as he hovered over her as she was lying unconscious on the pavement. She was transported to hospital for treatment.

“With what I went through and with all the memory gaps that I have right now… I still can’t remember,” Ross said. “I still don’t have that recollection of the events.”

Labissiere, who does not have a criminal record and is out on bail, will return to court on Jan. 31.