Calls for calm after beating filmed on river in Chilliwack

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Chilliwack RCMP launched an investigation after a man who was fishing from the riverbank was beaten viciously by three men who sped up in a boat near the Lumsden Road area.

Witnesses told Global News that anglers on the bank had previously yelled at the boat to slow down.

Tixweltel Kelsey Charlie, a councillor with the Sts’ailes First Nation whose territory the river runs through, said he has had concerns for some time about potential conflicts on the river.

“A disaster or a tragedy is imminent, because there is so much traffic and unruliness that happens on this little river, an exact same kind of scenario — somebody flying by on a jet boat and people are just standing there and it’s within feet of one another,” he said.

“Of course, there are tensions that are going to rise because some guy are on the boat and they feel like they’re entitled to be riding on there and there other guys on the beach and they feel like they need to do what they need to do. So I really feel like something is going to happen.”

Charlie said the nation is looking at mitigation measures it could implement on the river for safety, not just of boaters and anglers, but of families and children who use the area to picnic and swim.

The beating victim was treated in hospital for a concussion and fractures to the nose and cheek and has since been released.

Chilliwack RCMP says it has received several tips about who may have been involved, and is trying to piece together what led up to the assault.