Driver fired for deliberately soaking pedestrians
Video of van deliberately veering into puddles sparks outrage on social media
A contracting company has fired the driver who was seen on video veering into puddles to soak pedestrians in Sandy Hill.
“This individual is no longer employed with Black & McDonald,” the company said Sunday on its Facebook page, where members of the public posted a series of excoriating messages.
The driver will not face criminal charges.
“We consider the file now closed,” Ottawa police Sgt. Mark Gatien said Sunday. “The outcome from the employer we feel is enough of a lesson learned for him and your readers and viewers.”
Black & McDonald Ltd. did not name the driver, whose actions were caught by a rear-view dashcam of another vehicle driving along King Edward Avenue at about 3:30 p.m. Friday. The video, posted to YouTube by the user “Saif Khan,” showed a white Ford van marked with the Black & McDonald logo soaking people on the sidewalk.
Three times the video shows the driver veering to the right to run through deep puddles near the sidewalk, sending a deluge of water onto pedestrians.
Sgt. Gatien thanked the Ottawa division of Black & McDonald for its “quick and decisive action” in the case. “The driver of this van has been terminated from the company. I would also like to thank a patrol officer who assisted in this outcome,” he tweeted.
Gatien said there was no doubt that what the driver had done was deliberate.
A spokesman for Black & McDonald confirmed the firing. “The individual is no longer employed with Black & McDonald,” Tareq Ali said Sunday. “We have been contacted by Ottawa police and are fully co-operating.”
The video had been watched more than 624,000 times by Sunday afternoon, and some outraged viewers posted comments on Black and McDonald’s Facebook page.
“Those people should sue. Your company employee put them in harms way. Shameful,” wrote Steffen Wytenburg.
Black & McDonald’s Ali stressed it was an isolated incident. “We have a very good record and public safety is our number one priority. This is very unfortunate and we want to apologize to the public.”
He could not say if the pedestrians involved would be offered compensation.