The Nanaimo RCMP is investigating a dispute that started at a parking stall and quickly led to the deployment of bear spray and the smashing of a vehicle window with a tire iron. The incident occurred at approximately 12:45 PM on Monday, May 20, 2024, in the Walmart parking lot in the Woodgrove Centre.
Officers attended and located a family consisting of a husband and wife and their four children. The man and his children, aged one to six, had all been contaminated to some degree by the bear spray. All were treated at scene by BCEHS but did not need further medical treatment. Investigators spoke with the woman in the car, who said her husband was trying to locate a parking stall for their truck and boat. While manoeuvring into a stall, they were cut off by a man driving a dark-colored SUV that resembled a Hummer.
Both men got out of their respective vehicles and exchanged heated words. The interaction quickly escalated when the driver of the dark-colored vehicle produced a can of bear spray and sprayed it at the other man. Some of it was sprayed on the kids in the children. The driver who was sprayed then grabbed a tire iron from his vehicle and smashed out a window on the SUV. The other driver then got into his vehicle and drove off. He was last seen driving south on Highway 19A.
The man who produced the bear spray was described as a Caucasian man in his 60s with grey hair and was wearing a green shirt. No plate was obtained for his vehicle. “This was a situation where if cooler heads had prevailed, this dispute could have been resolved without resorting to this level of violence,” said R/Cst Gary O’Brien of the Nanaimo RCMP.
If anyone has information on this incident or the identity of the man who produced the bear spray, please call the Nanaimo RCMP non-emergency line at 250-754-2345.