Police said they are still investigating after a pickup truck driver drove into several businesses and vehicles at the Country Club Centre in Nanaimo.
Nanaimo RCMP said the incident occurred shortly before 7 p.m. on Jan. 6. When officers arrived, they found the pickup truck lodged into the exterior wall of the CIBC bank. A 38-year-old man was found in the driver’s seat of the truck. BC Emergency Health Services and firefighters also responded.
Police said the man appeared to be in distress. BC paramedics took him to a local hospital.
Two vehicles and at least three buildings were struck in the two to three minutes the suspect driver drove throughout the parking lot. One of the vehicles, a Honda Civic, was occupied. The car was destroyed but the 30-year-old male driver was not physically injured.
Witnesses told police the suspect vehicle was being driven at a high rate of speed through the parking lot and it appeared the driver, for unknown reasons, was driving directly at the various buildings. The CIBC bank, Shoppers Drug Mart and Urban Barn were all damaged to some degree.
Some of the damage left over after a vehicle crashed into buildings at the Country Club Mall.
The suspect driver was in hospital overnight and as of this date, has not been arrested or charged with any Criminal Code or Motor Vehicle Act offences. “At this time, investigators are exploring the possibility that the driver may have been impaired by drugs. These investigations are often lengthy and time-consuming, and it may be several months, if not longer, before investigators are in a position to forward charges for approval”, Const. Gary O’Brien, media relations officer with the Nanaimo RCMP, said in a statement.
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