UPDATE: Debt dispute escalates into fight and death

UPDATE: March 16, 2023

RCMP say one of the people struck by a vehicle in Salmon Arm on March 8, has died of the injuries.

The incident remains under investigation, as independent evidence is obtained.

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Original story March 7, 2023

A dispute over a debt led to an altercation and injuries in Salmon Arm.

RCMP responded to a report of a disturbance on Monday, March 6 around 4:25 p.m., reportedly near a Starbucks, involving a man who had been hit by a vehicle in the 1100 block of Lakeshore Drive SW.

Staff Sgt. Scott West said the officers at the scene were able to determine there was an altercation between four people who were known to each other.

“The dispute was over a debt that one person owed to another,” West said. “The 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 vehicle driver tried to escape the damage being done to his vehicle and in the process, struck one of the pedestrians involved.

“At this time, a physical confrontation started and the driver and passenger in the car fought with the other male pedestrian. The altercation and collision sent two to three people to hospital with various minor cuts scrapes and a possible fractured hand,” West stated.

All of the people involved were known to police.

West said the incident remains under investigation as independent evidence is obtained.