Nanaimo RCMP are investigating after a woman in her 60s was assaulted in the parking lot of the Nanaimo Regional General Hospital in an attempted car-jacking on Wednesday.
The woman was getting into the driver’s seat of her vehicle when she was struck repeatedly by a young woman with a two-foot wooden stick, said Nanaimo RCMP spokesman Const. Gary O’Brien. The incident happened about 7:30 p.m.
The woman, who was later determined to be 18, hit the victim while telling her to get out of the vehicle. The older woman refused and tried to block many of the strikes, but the younger woman dragged her out of the car. The attacker tried to start the vehicle but didn’t have the fob.
Security and other employees soon came to the victim’s aid and the younger woman was taken into custody and turned over to police.
The victim was treated at hospital for serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
Investigators determined the 18-year-old had been taken to the hospital by a family member concerned about her erratic behaviour, O’Brien said. She ran off before she could be admitted.
She has been arrested for assault causing bodily harm and was admitted to the hospital for a psychiatric evaluation.
