Cowichan man says he was almost hit by a trailer hitch on Vancouver Island highway

Adrian Sylvester says he believes the hitch was thrown at him deliberately, wants to warn others.

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Cowichan man says he was almost hit by a trailer hitch on Vancouver Island Highway on Cowichan Tribes territory in Duncan, B.C.

This article contains content about a possible hate crime and may be triggering. IndigiNews is committed to trauma-informed ethical reporting, which involves taking time and care, self-location, transparency and creating safety plans for those who come forward with stories to share.

Less than a week after Brayden Bushby was sentenced to eight years in prison for throwing a trailer hitch at Barbara Kentner of the Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation, a Cowichan man says he narrowly missed being hit by a trailer hitch on Cowichan Tribes territory in Duncan, B.C. 

The incident happened on June 3. 

Adrian Sylvester says he was biking along the highway in Duncan when a trailer hitch went flying in front of him.

“I was delivering food for the people on the streets,” he says.

Sylvester is the founder of the Sasquatch Clan Patrol, a volunteer group that, like the Sasquatch, protects the land, water and people.  

He supports his community by bringing meals and water to people in need, searching for missing persons, and helping with community clean-ups.

He says he was on his way home, heading south towards Boys Road. After he crossed the Silver Bridge, he noticed a trailer hitch flying through the air about five feet in front of him.

This is the trailer hitch Sylvester says landed about five feet in front of him. Photo by Adrian Sylvester.

Sylvester picked up the trailer hitch and reported the incident to North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP detachment. But because he did not get the license plate number, he says the police told him there wasn’t much they could do. 

“I was hesitant at first about reporting it,” he says. “I reported it the next day and the police took my information about what happened and they took my number. They said they’ll take it just in case somebody reports a trailer hitch missing from their truck.”

Sylvester says this is not an isolated incident. He says he’s heard reports from other Indigenous people in the Cowichan Tribes area, who say they’ve had things thrown at them, such as food.

“It makes me wonder, you know, I think it was some kind of hate crime because somebody would have reported their trailer hitch blowing off.”

IndigiNews reached out to  the North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP for comment multiple times and did not receive a response.  

“On a normal day, my son is always with me and he is always about five feet ahead of me, so if he was with me that day he would have been hit,” Sylvester says.

“I don’t think it was an accident. I think it was … deliberately thrown.”

If you have any information about the trailor hitch or this incident, please contact the North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP at 250-748-5522. 

Author

Anna McKenzie, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

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