Jon Davey, who saw some of what happened, says, “It looks like he wanted to use the canoe to get away.
When you ride your bike along the Waterfront Trail near Princess Point, you can usually see trees, wildlife, and Hamilton’s Cootes Paradise.
But when Jon Davey pedaled down that path on August 6, he saw a pickup truck coming at him full speed.
He told CBC Hamilton, “I could tell it wasn’t a park worker.” “I couldn’t believe it.”
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Davey tried to get his phone and take a picture as fast as he could, but the truck was too far away for him to get a picture of its license plate.
Davey caught a glimpse of a crazy situation that led to someone being arrested.
Attempted canoe-jackin
Constable Indy Bharaj told CBC Hamilton that police had received multiple reports of a driver going too fast down the path.
“The trail is used a lot, but luckily no one was hurt,” Bharaj wrote in an email.
He said that officers found out that the 39-year-old man from Vineland in the Niagara area had also tried to steal a canoe from two people who were in the water but failed.
Davey said that the water was almost up to the truck. He said that he later talked to people who saw what happened, like the two people in the canoe.
“They were also pretty shocked. “It looks like [the man] wanted to use the canoe to get away.”
Bharaj said that the suspect tried to get away in the truck, but he left the front bumper of his car and the license plate behind.
Officers were able to find out who was driving and try to get a warrant for him or her.
Bharaj says that just after 7 p.m. that day, Durham Regional Police told Hamilton police that they had arrested the 39-year-old man for driving while impaired.
Davey said that there should be bollards on the path to stop the same thing from happening again.