SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Two Yellowknife men have been found not guilty of assaulting a teen driver who was attempting to flee the scene after smashing into the rear-end of the cab they were in that was stopped at a red light.

The four-day territorial court trial closed Monday. On Tuesday, Judge Christine Gagnon decided in favour of the two men charged with assault and mischief.

The verdict didn't seem to surprise defence lawyer Kelly Payne. What did surprise Payne was that the case had "come so far" in the first place.

On May 2, the two accused were in a cab heading downtown when the taxi driver stopped at a red light at the intersection of Kam Lake Road, Franklin Avenue and Old Airport Road, near the fire hall.

The driver behind them – the complainant – smashed into the cab so hard it was propelled forward eight feet. The complainant testified that he thought the cab was going to go through the yellow light.

One of the two men in the cab, who was sitting in the front passenger seat at the time, said both his and the driver's head hit the dashboard. He only had a few seconds to assess everyone's injuries, however, before the cab driver asked him to stop the other driver – who was trying to leave the scene.

The accused exited the taxi. He said the other car was inching forward. The accused put his hands on the hood of the car, saying "Whoa, stop!"

"At this point he was pushing me forward with his car … He hit both my knees and I ended (up) on the hood of his car. He took off around the corner … I was white-knuckled on to the windshield wipers of his car," said the accused.

The car reportedly reached a speed of 80 km/h while the accused was atop the hood.

"I was scared," he said. He wound up suffering torn knee ligaments, a concussion, a chipped elbow and a separated hip. The accused was charged with assault after the complainant said he punched through the window in an attempt to hit him – causing the complainant to either flee the scene or stay and be beat up. Judge Christine Gagnon said she found the testimony of the complainant – driving his grandmother's car at the time of the accident – unreliable.

"I was not impressed by the testimony of (the complainant)," she said, dismissing the charges against the two men.