A pickup truck involved in a “bizarre” incident where the driver drove on the sidewalk and toppled a streetlamp in downtown Nanaimo Tuesday was found unoccupied with the engine running, police say.
The man who drove the white, older-model pickup onto the sidewalk around 1:20 p.m. as he made a left turn from Church Street onto Commercial Street could not be located by police dogs called to the abandoned vehicle, Nanaimo RCMP said.
The truck drove over the sidewalk and took out a structure before smashing into a streetlamp that hit a vehicle with two occupants, who were not injured, Reserve Const. Gary O’Brien said. The truck then sped off on Front Street.
Twenty minutes later, police responded to a report of the same vehicle abandoned in the 200-block of Nanaimo River Road south of Nanaimo.
Investigators are contacting the registered owner of the vehicle, police said.
Anyone with information related to the incident is asked to call Nanaimo RCMP’s non-emergency line at 250-754-2345.