Pickup truck plows into Nanaimo mall, driver ‘in distress’
Witnesses said a man in a pickup truck driven at high speed appeared to steer directly at businesses at Nanaimo’s Country Club Mall before getting lodged in the wall of a CIBC bank branch.
Nanaimo RCMP said two vehicles were also struck in the incident, which lasted two to three minutes. One of the vehicles struck was occupied. The person inside was not injured but the vehicle was a write-off.
Reports that pedestrians had been struck turned out to be false.
Police arrived to find a 38-year-old man still in the driver’s seat of the stuck pickup.
He seemed to be in distress and was turned over to paramedics to be taken to hospital.
Along with the CIBC, a Shoppers Drug Mart and an Urban Barn were also damaged, police said.
The driver spent the night in hospital. He has not been arrested. “At this time, investigators are exploring the possibility that the driver may have been impaired by drugs,” said Nanaimo RCMP Const. Gary O’Brien.
“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.”