A dispute over a parking stall in Nanaimo ended in an SUV driver deploying bear spray at the other driver, who responded by smashing one of the SUV’s windows.
The incident occurred at about 12:45 p.m. Monday in the parking lot of Walmart at Woodgrove Centre.
Nanaimo RCMP are investigating the incident, which resulted in the truck’s occupants, including four children ages one to six, being exposed to bear spray.
They were treated at the scene by paramedics.
The mother told officers that the family’s truck — which was towing a boat — had been cut off by a man in a dark-coloured SUV, similar to a Hummer, while her husband was manoeuvring into a parking stall.
That led to both her husband and the man in the SUV getting out of their vehicles and exchanging “heated words,” police said.
The SUV driver then produced a can of bear spray and deployed it in the direction of the husband.
The husband responded by pulling out a tire iron and smashing a window on the SUV.
At that point, the SUV driver got back into his vehicle and left, and was last seen headed south on Highway 19A.
“This was a situation where if cooler heads had prevailed, this dispute could have been resolved without resorting to this level of violence,” Reserve Const. Gary O’Brien said.
The SUV driver is described as white and in his early 60s with grey hair, and wearing a green shirt.
No plate number was obtained for his vehicle.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Nanaimo RCMP at 250-754-2345.
