An incident involving a vehicle crashing into a concrete pole near the Starbucks drive-thru in Salmon Arm on March 6 was the result of a dispute over a debt, according to Salmon Arm RCMP.

Police received a report at 4:25 p.m. Monday of a disturbance where a man was struck by vehicle, said Staff Sgt. Scott West in a media release.

RCMP and an ambulance proceeded to the 1100 block of Lakeshore Drive SW where officers determined an altercation had taken place between four people who knew one another.

鈥淭he two males that felt they were owed money used a blunt object to damage the vehicle driven by the other party in the dispute. The driver of the vehicle tried to escape the damage being done to his vehicle and in the process struck one of the other pedestrians involved,鈥� West said.

Then a physical confrontation started and the driver and passenger in the vehicle reportedly fought with the other male pedestrian.

West said the altercation and collision sent two or three people to hospital with various minor cuts, scrapes and a possible fractured hand.

鈥淎ll of the people involved in the incident are known to one another as well as police,鈥� West added.

A witness who had called 911 told the Observer she was just leaving Starbucks about 4 p.m. Monday when a woman came running from the parking lot to the front of Starbucks, saying 鈥榗all 911, call 911.鈥� She was covered in blood and said she crashed her vehicle while trying to flee from an assault targeting her and her husband.

The woman 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, said the witness.

Starbucks staff immediately brought napkins out where the two were sitting on the patio, so the witness put pressure on a 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鈥檚 attention, as two police vehicles and four ambulances responded to the initial call.

鈥淗oly smoke I didn鈥檛 know we had that many ambulances,鈥� she remarked.

She said at least two people were hurt but she wasn鈥檛 sure if there were more.

The witness also said she wasn鈥檛 told who the perpetrator or perpetrators were nor a reason for the assault.

鈥淲hat precipitated it, what it鈥檚 about, where it started, I couldn鈥檛 tell you.鈥�

Police say the incident remains under investigation while more evidence is gathered.

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