A motorist caused extensive damage after driving onto the sidewalk on Church St. in downtown Nanaimo on Tuesday, Oct. 8. (Jordan Davidson/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By NanaimoNewsNOW

shocking incident

Erratic driver leaves path of destruction in downtown Nanaimo

Oct 8, 2024 | 2:41 PM

NANAIMO — An apparent case of road rage caused extensive property damage, while at least one pedestrian scrambled out of the vehicle’s path.

It happened on Church St. in front of the Great National Lands Building at Chapel St. On Tuesday, Oct. 8 just before 1:30 p.m.

Witness Gabrielle Maher and her husband had just parked on Church St. when she saw the driver of a white Ford Super Duty reverse his vehicle in their direction.

She said the truck struck a lamp post, which then toppled onto their brand-new car.

“I was shaking, it was awful…I won’t be coming back,” Maher said, who noted they just arrived in Nanaimo for a visit from Portland, Oregon.

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Maher said the driver then sped off.

Olivia Thomas was crossing Church St. when she said an angry-looking driver proceeded up the sidewalk. (Jordan Davidson/NanaimoNewsNOW)

Olivia Thomas works in the area.

She was walking across the street to her office in the Great National Lands Building when she spotted the irritated driver and said they appeared angry about being stuck in traffic.

“Essentially it was a temper tantrum, he made his own way through….I was just crossing the street and just stepped onto those steps as he just rammed his way through,” Thomas said on scene.

She scurried into her office, narrowly escaping being hit as the truck proceeded on the sidewalk on Church St.

“I was right there, if I had been two steps behind where I was I would have been under his truck.”

Thomas said the driver was “angry looking” and clearly wasn’t happy about waiting in traffic.

“I’ve never seen behaviour like that in person, you see stuff like that in movies, but to see somebody do something like that because they were angry to have to wait for two cars?”

In an updated release sent out on Wednesday, Oct. 9, Nanaimo RCMP say about twenty minutes after the incident, the truck was found abandoned south of Nanaimo in the 200 block of Nanaimo River Rd.

The vehicle was unoccupied with the engine still running, but the suspect was not located even with the aid of Police Dog Services.

Investigators are following up with the registered owner of the vehicle.

Anyone with additional information into this incident, including dashcam or any video footage, is asked to contact the Nanaimo RCMP non-emergency line at 250-754-2345.

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