A Vancouver Island man is facing dangerous driving and mischief charges after allegedly smashing his pickup truck through a parking lot and into a building in an incident that “destroyed” at least one other vehicle.
The whole episode lasted under three minutes, and was partially captured on video.
According to Nanaimo RCMP, it happened just before 7 p.m. on Monday, at the Country Club Mall.
Police allege 38-year-old Tyler Schaeffer sped his newer-model truck through the parking lot, hitting two vehicles and at least three buildings.
One of those vehicles, a newer-model Honda Civic, was “destroyed,” according to police, but its 30-year-old occupant was unharmed.
Police cited witness accounts of the truck speeding through the lot, and apparently being driven directly into vehicles and buildings.
Investigators say the incident left a CIBC bank, a Shoppers Drug Mart and an Urban Barn with “sustained extensive structural damage.”
Police arrived to find the driver in the passenger seat of the truck, in apparent distress. He was turned over to paramedics and taken to hospital.
Investigators arrested him the next day, and he appeared in court on Tuesday.