Sledgehammer used in Kelowna road rage attack

A 40-year-old man suffering mental health issue was transferred to hospital after he allegedly hit a parked vehicle with a sledgehammer and then later crashed into a police cruiser.

According to a Kelowna RCMP media release, the man got into a disagreement with another motorist while parked in the 400-block Leon Avenue. He then got out of his truck and hit the other vehicle with a sledgehammer several times. He then left in a grey Dodge Dakota pickup truck.

The incident took place Feb. 25 at roughly 4 p.m.

Kelowna RCMP says police looked for the Dodge truck but were unable to find it, until roughly 4 p.m. the next day when a police officer spotted the Dodge truck and attempted to stop it. However, the truck drove off at a high rate of speed and the officer did not pursue it.

Shortly after 7 p.m. that day, Kelowna RCMP got a report that the truck had been sighted in the 1400-block of St. Paul Street.

"Frontline officers fanned out and continued to search for the vehicle and located it in the area of Richter Street and Sutherland Avenue where it subsequently struck a police vehicle," the release says.

Kelowna RCMP says the 40-year-old was apprehended under the Mental Health Act and transported to hospital. The man has not been charged, and an investigation is underway.

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