North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP are focusing on the issue of panhandling on road medians after a road-rage incident in which a man asking for money was assaulted by a driver.
The man was panhandling at a busy Duncan intersection on the Trans-Canada Highway, near Coronation Avenue, last week when he exchanged words with a motorist.
The driver got out of his vehicle and assaulted the man, said North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP Const. Amron Russell.
The driver is described as a white male, 30-years-old with dark curly or frizzy hair, a bushy beard and a tattoo on one of his hands. He left the scene in a red pickup truck.
“We are dealing with panhandling complaints weekly, if not daily,” Russell said.
RCMP are often called about panhandlers at the Trunk Road median, either because motorists are concerned the person will be hit by a vehicle or because of aggressive panhandling.
Police can issue a fine of $86 to $115 under the Safe Streets Act, but Russell said officers use discretion, typically giving a warning first. “We are actually there talking to the panhandlers,” Russell said. “We’ll stand on the centre median and try to discourage and educate motorists not to give handouts to panhandlers.” The practice is simply not safe, she said.
Colleen Fuller, manager at the Cowichan Valley Basket Society, which runs a soup kitchen and grocery program for the needy, said she knows most of the people panhandling.
She said access to healthy meals is not an issue, but the challenge is that most are on a fixed income with little money left over after they pay rent.
“They’re living on $700 a month, their rent is $650, so they have nothing else and they’re forced to do things like pandhandle. They’re at the point where they’re so poor they’re putting their safety at risk.”
Fuller said she has never heard of a panhandler being physically attacked.
“When people are treating people in poverty like that, it’s very scary, it’s a crying shame.”
Anyone with information regarding the incident is asked to contact North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP at 250-748-5522 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
