VANCOUVER -- Mounties on Vancouver Island say a woman has been arrested after a series of incidents, including alleged assaults and impaired driving on Saturday.

In a news release, Nanaimo RCMP described the incident as "bizarre," saying it began around 5 p.m., when a couple was driving on the Nanaimo Park Highway and noticed the vehicle in front of them slowing down.

The vehicle eventually came to a stop in the travel lane of the highway, and the driver got out, police said. She walked over to the couple's car and - after a short conversation and without provocation, according to police - assaulted the driver.

Police said the suspect then took off. They said they got a call several minutes later saying that a vehicle matching the description of the suspect's had driven into oncoming traffic and nearly hit a pedestrian outside the Jingle Pot Pub, near the corner of Jingle Pot and Calder roads.

Despite three of the vehicle's tires being flattened when it drove over the curb, the suspect continued driving, police said.

RCMP said they next responded to calls reporting that the suspect was at the nearby public beach at Westwood Lake, where officers found her sitting in a lifeguard chair.

The woman sprayed an officer with an unknown liquid that she said would hurt him, police said, adding that the officer was unaffected and the liquid was likely water. Police arrested the 37-year-old suspect, who now faces assault charges, as well as impaired driving and refusal to comply with a drug recognition expert test.

With files from The Canadian Press