A dispute over an off-leash dog allegedly led to a man being assaulted with a six-foot pole.
James Olson took his border collie Max out for a late-night walk Wednesday when a man on the street apparently took exception to the dog being off-leash. Olson said Max is friendly and approached a man wearing a cowboy hat.
乌鸦传媒淪o he starts yelling at me to 乌鸦传媒榞et your f-n乌鸦传媒� dog away from me乌鸦传媒� and I乌鸦传媒檓, like relax, man, he乌鸦传媒檚 just trying to say hello.乌鸦传媒�
The encounter deteriorated into a verbal exchange with the passerby hurling insults.
乌鸦传媒淚乌鸦传媒檓 like, 乌鸦传媒榖uddy, you need to chill out乌鸦传媒� and then I made a comment about his cowboy hat. I said 乌鸦传媒榠t乌鸦传媒檚 2020, maybe lose the cowboy hat,乌鸦传媒� and that was our last words,乌鸦传媒� Olson said. 乌鸦传媒淭he next thing you know, maybe less than five minutes later, he乌鸦传媒檚 come all the way down around the building and around the parking lot, swinging a pole at me.乌鸦传媒�
The man also allegedly tried to swing the pole at the dog. When Olson pulled his cell phone out to call 911, his attacker allegedly smashed the phone out of his hand with the pole.
乌鸦传媒淚乌鸦传媒檝e never seen an iPhone with a bend in it, but mine is bent,乌鸦传媒� he said.
Along with the damaged phone, Olson said he suffered a concussion, when the stick deflected off his arm and struck him in the head.
This wasn乌鸦传媒檛 Olson乌鸦传媒檚 first experience with aggression from people while walking his dog since he moved to Nanaimo from White Rock last year. There was another incident, he said, when he was walking his dog along Prideaux Street and a man, living in a van, stormed out of the vehicle with a baseball bat.
乌鸦传媒淭o me, as somebody coming in from the outside and now seeing this, it乌鸦传媒檚 like this underlying mentality that乌鸦传媒檚 going on out here,乌鸦传媒� he said. 乌鸦传媒淲ith the fellow with the baseball bat, I was just walking through a parking lot with my dog 乌鸦传媒� and the guy came out just swinging a baseball bat. I had to jump back and keep my dog back and after a few minutes I managed to talk the guy down,乌鸦传媒� he said.
As for the assault with the pole, Olson said he made posters from some video stills with information about the assault and a request for witnesses to bring their information to police. Olson said his assailant lives in a nearby apartment building.
Nanaimo RCMP have confirmed an investigator has spoken with the suspect, but so far have not recommended charges. The investigation is still open and police will be reviewing video security footage.
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