Biking along the Waterfront Trail near Princess Point typically offers a view of foliage, wildlife, and Cootes Paradise in Hamilton.

But when Jon Davey rode down that road on August 6, he saw a pickup truck heading his way.

“I realized that he was not a parks worker,” Hamilton told CBC. “He was in shock.”

Davey tried to grab his phone and take a photo as quickly as possible, but the truck was too far away to take a photo of the license plate.

What Davey saw was a glimpse of a wild situation that led to an arrest.

attempted hijacking of canoes

Const. Indy Bharaj told CBC Hamilton that police received multiple reports of a driver speeding down the road.

“The road is very busy and fortunately no one was injured,” Bharaj wrote in an email.

He said officers have learned that the 39-year-old man from the Vineland area of the Niagara region also tried, and failed, to steal a two-person canoe on the water.

Davey said the truck was almost submerged in water. He said he then talked to the people who saw it unfold, including the two in the canoe.

“They were pretty shocked too. [The man] apparently wanted to use the canoe as an escape vehicle.”

The defendant tried to flee the scene in the truck, leaving behind the front bumper of his vehicle with the license plate attached, Bharaj said.

Officers were able to identify the driver and try to obtain a warrant.

According to Bharaj, shortly after 7:00 p.m. that day, Durham Regional Police contacted Hamilton Police and told them the 39-year-old man had been arrested for driving while intoxicated.

Davey said there should be bollards along the road to prevent repeat incidents.