A 25-year-old man is facing a litany of charges after he crashed a stolen vehicle while trying to run over a group of people outside the Salmo Curling Club, according to police.
The bizarre incident happened at about 11 p.m. on Saturday night, said Sgt. Dan Seibel of the RCMP's Kootenay Boundary Regional Detachment.
Police allege that the man, who lives in Salmo, had been hanging out with a group of people behind the curling club but left after a disagreement. He later returned and tried to run the people over with a 1991 Chevrolet Blazer that turned out to be stolen, according to the RCMP.
Seibel said the vehicle ended up colliding with a cement barrier and flipping onto its roof, resulting in "serious damage" but no apparent injuries to the driver, who then ran off but not before pulling a knife and threatening a "good Samaritan" who came to investigate the crash.
RCMP officers from both Trail and Salmo investigated the incident and later arrested the man at his home in Salmo. He is currently in custody and due to appear in court in Rossland on Tuesday to face charges of dangerous driving, assault with a weapon, uttering threats, vehicle theft and, likely, impaired driving.
The Salmo RCMP are also asking any witnesses of the incident who have not already been contacted by police to phone the local detachment at 250-357-2212 to offer their account of what happened.