Two men say they were hit by a truck while participating in a residential school march in Mission, BC, and want to see the driver found and charged.
Troy Ingraldi and Ashton Edwards said they were participating in a march Saturday calling for a search for unmarked graves on the grounds of the former St. Mary’s Residential School, when they allege a driver behind the group became aggressive.
Ingraldi said he was helping direct traffic at the rear of the rally when he noticed the driver, a man who appeared to be in his 60s, in a pickup truck.
“I was letting traffic slow down behind us as we were driving slowly and a driver got impatient,” Ingraldi said.
Ingraldi alleges that the truck stopped in a diversion and spun its wheels before attempting to pass the group on the shoulder. Ingraldi said he tried to stop the truck because there were children and elderly people around, and the man began yelling expletives and telling the group they shouldn’t be on the road, becoming increasingly agitated.
“He told me, ‘I’ll get you off the road or I’ll get whoever I want off this road,’ and he got into his truck. That’s when he ended up hitting me with the front driver’s side of his vehicle,” Ingraldi said.
“He dragged me under for a bit and then pushed me over to the side of the truck.”
Ingraldi was taken to the hospital after the incident and says he suffered soft tissue damage, a cut lip and a minor concussion.
Edwards, who was helping organize the march as part of the Brotherhood of Mad Indians, said he heard on a portable radio that Ingraldi had been beaten and then saw the truck.
“I could see him behind us, aggressively driving in and out,” Edwards said.
As the truck headed toward Edwards and a group of people, a man in front of him jumped out and leaned on the hood, Edwards said. Edwards tried to pull the man out of the hood and that’s when he was also hit, spinning him around, he said. Then the truck drove away, he said.
Edwards, who said he was bruised and sore, also went to the hospital but later decided to make a doctor’s appointment.
He said he is shocked to think how more people could have been injured more seriously if things had been a little different.
“This was an aggressive and dangerous driver and I really hope he gets charged,” Edwards said.
The allegations have not been proven in court.
RCMP says in a press release that the truck contacted a total of four people and describes the injuries as minor.
No one is in custody and officers are gathering as much evidence as possible to determine the appropriate charges to recommend, the statement said.
He describes the man behind the wheel as “an impatient driver” who tried to dodge a group into oncoming traffic and then pointed the vehicle at the group as cars passed by.
There is no indication that the incident was targeted, or that the driver’s actions had anything to do specifically with the people marching or their cause, he says.
“Trying to save a few minutes of time by endangering the lives of others is simply unacceptable,” Const. Harrison Mohr said in the statement.
Neither Edwards nor Ingraldi said they believed the incident was targeted.
“I think it was just an angry driver,” Ingraldi said.
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