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.
sa国际传媒淪o he starts yelling at me to sa国际传媒榞et your f-nsa国际传媒� dog away from mesa国际传媒� and Isa国际传媒檓, like relax, man, hesa国际传媒檚 just trying to say hello.sa国际传媒�
The encounter deteriorated into a verbal exchange with the passerby hurling insults.
sa国际传媒淚sa国际传媒檓 like, sa国际传媒榖uddy, you need to chill outsa国际传媒� and then I made a comment about his cowboy hat. I said sa国际传媒榠tsa国际传媒檚 2020, maybe lose the cowboy hat,sa国际传媒� and that was our last words,sa国际传媒� Olson said. sa国际传媒淭he next thing you know, maybe less than five minutes later, hesa国际传媒檚 come all the way down around the building and around the parking lot, swinging a pole at me.sa国际传媒�
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.
sa国际传媒淚sa国际传媒檝e never seen an iPhone with a bend in it, but mine is bent,sa国际传媒� 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 wasnsa国际传媒檛 Olsonsa国际传媒檚 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.
sa国际传媒淭o me, as somebody coming in from the outside and now seeing this, itsa国际传媒檚 like this underlying mentality thatsa国际传媒檚 going on out here,sa国际传媒� he said. sa国际传媒淲ith the fellow with the baseball bat, I was just walking through a parking lot with my dog sa国际传媒� 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,sa国际传媒� 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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