IT'S part of a balanced breakfast, but it will leave a hell of a dent on your car.
A North Vancouver taxi driver is warning the public after his cab was pelted with fruit twice in two nights while driving in Lynn Valley.
The first incident happened on Saturday July 20 at 1:45 a.m. as Christopher Kay was driving north on Lynn Valley Road just past William Ave. After hearing a thud on his passengers' side door, Kay pulled over to see what it was. It turned out to be the crown of a pineapple. There was no one around that Kay could see so he moved on and had the sticky juice washed off the car the next day.
But that was only the first citrus-based assault.
"The very next night, again at about 1:45 a.m., I was driving on the same road, at the same location with two passengers and there was a colossal bump on the front of the car and the hood and front windscreen of the car were covered in juice."
This time, the projectile was a grapefruit, full of pulpy shrapnel.
"The reason I knew it was pink grapefruit juice is because my wife prepares a pink grapefruit for me every morning before I come to work," Kay said.
Kay reported the incidents to North Vancouver RCMP and ICBC, who informed him the dent would cost $500 to repair.
Doubtful that he was targeted specifically, Kay said his North Shore neighbours should know.
"Obviously there's some nutter out there throwing fruit," he said. "My single concern was if the grapefruit had been two or three feet higher, it quite possible would have smashed through the windscreen. I'm sure it would have because of the velocity and the size of the thing. It troubled me a lot."
North Vancouver RCMP spokesman Cpl. Doug Trousdell confirms Kay's report and said he's never heard of anything like it happening here before.
But with not much information to go on, Trousdell said there's little the police can do other than step up patrols in the area to see if the fruit chucker will strike again.
Amusing as it may be, Trousdell said Kay is right to be concerned. "It's concerning. It sound like somebody intended this to be a prank, but of course there's a risk it might damage the vehicle or worse, startle the driver and cause a collision. It's something we take seriously," Trousdell said.
