‘It was a fight for my life’: Truck driver details frantic, gunpoint carjacking at Walmart in Stoney Creek

It started with a seemingly innocuous question: How do I get to Gray Road?

The man asking was on the run and wanted, according to police, for a shooting that happened early July 28 in a wooded area near Centennial Parkway North and the Queen Elizabeth Way in Stoney Creek.

Jason Smith, the man answering, didn't know that.

A Coke Canada Bottling truck driver for more than 20 years, Smith was startled when he saw two unfamiliar men pacing about the north docking station behind the Walmart at 510 Centennial, a shopping plaza near the scene of the shooting. It was around 6:45 a.m. and quiet.

He began to feel tense after one of the men came up to his driver's window looking flustered.

I had the door locked and the window was open. He said, Tell me where Gray Road is,'" Smith recalled. So, I told him, OK, well, just walk straight down (South Service Road) and you'll get there. It's a bit of a walk but you'll get there.'"

The man, without saying a word, backed off the steps leading to the cab and reached into what appeared to be a fanny pack on his waist, Smith said.

Then out came a gun.

All of a sudden, he comes back up the steps, opens the door and puts the gun right to my face," said Smith.

It appeared to Smith the man was after his truck.

What ensued was a frantic, close-quarters altercation that Smith called a fight for my life."

It's left his family traumatized and prompted him to take a leave from work due to emotional distress.

Coke Canada said in a statement the company is focused on ensuring Smith has the support he needs.

Hamilton police confirmed the accuracy of Smith's recount to The Spectator on Thursday. Police have since arrested one man but are still looking for a second suspect in connection with the shooting.

Smith said he wrestled with the man from his driver's seat for five agonizing minutes. The man hit his left arm with the gun repeatedly, he said, and kept a finger on the trigger throughout.

That's what was scaring me the most," said Smith, his finger on the trigger. It was an all-around struggle. I'm grabbing both of his arms. He's fighting with me to get in from the top of my stairs."

Smith said the man's demeanour prior to the fight - agitated, confused, hurried, no eye-contact - left him particularly worried for his safety.

I knew if I didn't get his finger away from the trigger, he could kill me," he said. It was a fight for my life. I didn't care about the truck and wasn't trying to save it. I just wanted him away from me."

By the time Smith was able to get loose from the man - kicking him in the legs through a half-open door and sending him to the concrete - a worker at the north docking station came out and heard the commotion.

The man quickly ran off. The other person with him - who Smith said wasn't involved in the altercation but who police say is a suspect in the morning shooting - also disappeared.

Minutes later, after Smith believed both suspects had fled, the gunman reappeared walking to the south docking station alongside a Walmart truck driver. He had a gun pointed at him, Smith said.

I'm looking at the Walmart driver with a terrified look on his face, and I'm almost in tears for him because I'm thinking I'm not going to see him again," said Smith.

The pair got in the truck - the Walmart worker in the driver's seat, the gunman next to him - and pulled out with such haste that the bearings connecting the cab to the trailer were completely unhinged.

All the lines ripped off the trailer," said Smith. I saw the truck coming past me and I looked to the driver and said, Just do what he says.' I was in tears for him."

Police later found the truck abandoned in the area of Royce Avenue near Birchlawn Drive - about six kilometres from the plaza - where one suspect fled into home.

After negotiation, a 24-year-old man was arrested and charged with several firearm-related offences.

Police spokesperson Jackie Penman said Thursday investigators are looking for a second suspect involved in the shooting, but not the carjacking. She could not provide a suspect description.

The Walmart worker returned to the plaza by foot roughly 15 minutes after the carjacking, according to Smith. It's unclear if he was booted from the truck before it was abandoned or if he sustained any serious injuries. The retail giant said in a statement we are supporting our associate."

Smith said he had to see a doctor the day after the incident because of constant pins and needles" running up his left arm, which the suspect repeatedly hit with his gun. He worries about getting in a truck again.

I've been with Coke for 23 years and never dealt with something like that," said Smith. When I saw the news that the gun was real, and here I was fighting with (the gunman), it freaked me out. It's emotionally screwed me up."

Sebastian Bron is a Hamilton-based reporter at The Spectator. Reach him via email: sbron@thespec.com