GABRIOLA ISLAND -- Salt Spring Island RCMP are searching for a man who allegedly stole a boat from the island before crashing it into a reef just off the shores of Gabriola Island.
It all unfolded Monday morning around 7 a.m. when someone from Salt Spring Island noticed that their 18-foot centre console boat had been stolen.
A few hours later, at around 9:45 a.m., Gabriola RCMP received a report of a man crashing a boat into a reef in Descanso Bay and fleeing the area.
“You wouldn’t believe it,” said Doug Walkley, who watched the crash occur.
He and his wife live on Gabriola Island and saw the whole thing unfold from their patio.
The couple saw the boat coming towards the reef at full speed, then watched it hit the reef and fly over it before landing in the water on the other side.
Walkley says the driver may have been asleep because he was slumped over the wheel of the boat before it hit the reef.
“My wife thought for sure he was going to hit our house,” said Walkley.
Their neighbours also saw the crash and were calling down to the man, saying, “’Are you hurt?’ And he would wave and say, ‘No I don’t need any help,’” said Walkley.
“Because of his demeanour we felt a theft had taken place,” added Walkley.
A Gabriola RCMP vessel responded to the crash along with three rescue boats.
The man fled the scene up the banks of Gabriola Island as soon as the rescue boats started arriving.
Police have not been able to locate the man nor identify him yet.
The stolen boat was towed to Nanaimo for forensic identification testing by the RCMP. The boat received significant damage and was determined to be the stolen boat from Salt Spring Island.
Anyone with information on the identity of the man is asked to contact Salt Spring Island RCMP or Gabriola Island RCMP.
