Hamilton police investigate possible hate crime after sharp altercation

A Stoney Creek resident is accused of uttering death threats after a heated dispute over a Walmart parking lot on Friday. Police are assessing the possibility of characterizing the incident as a hate crime.

The 47-year-old was also charged with dangerous driving and not staying at the scene of an accident.

A video of the altercation Friday afternoon was posted on YouTube by Patryk Laszczuk. He indicates that it was sent to him by one of his colleagues, who wrote him a message around 1 pm that day to tell him that he had just witnessed a “racist altercation” in front of the Walmart Supercentre located on Centennial Parkway North at Stoney Creek, east of Hamilton.

According to Patryk Laszczuk, the fight began after the couple tried to back down to a parking spot and apparently found themselves on the other man’s path. He adds that his colleague’s wife began filming when the argument escalated.

The video seems to begin after the incident that caused the altercation. She shows a man closing the door of his truck while another moves his finger and asks what kind of example he thinks he is showing.

The person holding the camera then appears to be hit by the van while the driver accelerates quickly and brakes suddenly.

Oops , can we hear him say, before shouting: Get out of the way!

The other man then touches his arm briefly.

You put your hands on me, I’ll break your legs , said the man in the van. It’s you who are trying to harass me.

As he rolls slowly, the other man walking next to him says: Do you want me to go back to my country? I am a Canadian citizen.

The van driver answers: Show me. Prove it. I do not believe you then try to imitate the other man’s accent by saying: You do not speak like a Canadian.

I am a racist o *** e. I do not like you, I do not like him, he adds. I would kill your children first.

Warning: The language used in the video below is sometimes raw and vulgar