A young man behind the wheel of his family's car caused $1,500 worth of damage to Community Park in Parksville on Saturday, April 18. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

PARK DAMAGED

Young Parksville driver’s joy-ride causes damage at Community Park

Apr 22, 2020 | 11:46 AM

PARKSVILLE — A young driver using the family vehicle caused extensive damage to the sports field at Parksville Community Park.

Oceanside RCMP were alerted to a driver doing burnouts in the park just before midnight on Saturday, April 18.

Cpl. Jesse Foreman told NanaimoNewsNOW officers immediately responded and tracked down the driver.

“The vehicle had just left the scene, we caught him driving up the street a short distance from the park,” Foreman said. “When we pulled over the vehicle that matched the description given by the witness, it had lots of grass, mud and dirt underneath so it was a pretty obvious correlation.”

The damage was mainly contained to the grassy bank near a pair of ball diamonds, running parallel to Hwy. 19A.

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A zig-zagging set of tire tracks were left on the field leading up to the bank.

Police are now determining the next cause of action for the young man, who has a driver’s license but is under the age of 18.

“We’re going to decide if it’s something that should be referred to restorative justice or dealt with civilly,” Foreman said.

An estimate from the City of Parksville for the repair bill is around $1,500.

“Sometimes kids due to peer pressure or whatever do silly things when they’re first learning to drive. If you have someone in your home that’s not driving, you just want to keep those conversations up. A vehicle is a big responsibility and it’s only to be used for transportation,” Foreman said.

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