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UPDATE: Woman tells witness she was fleeing an assault in Salmon Arm when vehicle crashed

Person who called 911 recounts details of incident near Starbucks
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Police vehicles and ambulance respond to an incident near Welcome to Strong Storage sign behind SureStay Plus hotel and in alleyway near Starbucks drive-thru in Salmon Arm about 4:45 p.m. on Monday, March 6. (Martha Wickett - Salmon Arm Observer)

Warning: This article contains details of injuries

March 6, 10 p.m.

The people involved in a vehicle crash on the afternoon of March 6 were fleeing an assault, according to a witness who called 911.

The witness, who wished to remain anonymous, told the Observer she was just leaving Starbucks in Salmon Arm about 4 p.m. Monday when a woman came running from the parking lot to the front of Starbucks, saying ‘call 911, call 911.’ She was covered in blood and said she crashed her vehicle while trying to flee an assault on her and her husband.

She was very upset and crying, saying they had been assaulted with a baseball bat, recounted the witness.

Her husband was in the vehicle with her when it crashed into a cement pole by the storage facility sign behind Starbucks.

The woman, who appeared to be in her 40s, had a gash on both sides of her head, and her wrist appeared almost broken.

Starbucks staff immediately brought napkins out where the two were sitting on the patio, so the witness put pressure on the gash.

The woman was concerned about her husband who was back with the crashed car by the storage facility.

He had also been struck by a baseball bat, the witness was told, and had a broken wrist or arm. The woman was able to go see him after he was put in an ambulance.

The number of ambulances caught the witness’s attention, as two police vehicles and four ambulances responded to the initial call.

“Holy smoke I didn’t know we had that many ambulances,” she remarked.

She said at least two people were hurt but she wasn’t sure if there were more.

The witness also said she wasn’t told a reason for the assault.

“What precipitated it, what it’s about, where it started, I couldn’t tell you.”

Original story:

Several police vehicles and ambulances responded to an incident down the lane between the waterslides and Starbucks in Salmon Arm about 4:45 p.m. on Monday, March 6.

At the end of the lane at the back of the SureStay Plus hotel and in front of the Welcome to Strong Storage sign, a vehicle could be seen with its front end curled around a cement post.

Police and ambulance vehicles were also seen parked near the casino across the highway.

One passerby said they saw police arrest an individual in a vehicle across the Trans-Canada Highway just after the emergency vehicles arrived.

No word yet from police regarding the number of people requiring medical assistance nor the circumstances of the vehicle crash.

More information as it becomes available.

Read more: Fun and top-three finishes mark Teck BC Championships for Larch Hills Nordics



martha.wickett@saobserver.net
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A police vehicle can be seen near the drive-thru at Starbucks in Salmon Arm about 5 p.m. on Monday, March 6. (Martha Wickett - Salmon Arm Observer)


Martha Wickett

About the Author: Martha Wickett

came to Salmon Arm in May of 2004 to work at the Observer. I was looking for a change from the hustle and bustle of the Lower Mainland, where I had spent more than a decade working in community newspapers.
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