A Hamilton man has been charged with dangerous driving and is being investigated over a possible hate crime, after a video appeared to show him shouting at a couple and threatening their children in a Walmart parking lot.

The video was posted to YouTube by Patryk Laszczuk, who said that one of his co-workers texted him Friday afternoon about the incident at the Walmart Supercentre on Centennial Pkwy. N., near the Queen Elizabeth Way.

An hour later, Laszczuk’s co-worker sent him a video of the event. “I called him, saying, ‘I need to share this,’” Laszczuk told the Star. He posted the video to YouTube and Facebook.

The confrontation started around 1 p.m., initially over a parking spot. According to Laszczuk, the couple had circled the parking lot and were headed towards the same spot as the man in the video.

“The other guy was not pleased,” Laszczuk said. “He just started yelling things like ‘Go back to your country’ and then things progressed, and that’s when he got out of the car. This guy was not really down to talk.”

The couple in the video — Laszczuk’s co-worker and his wife — do not wish to be identified and declined to speak to media at this time, Laszczuk said.

The video, which does not show the beginning of the dispute, starts with the man getting into his car. The other man asks what example he is setting for his children. When the driver notices that someone is taking a video, he accelerates and appears to hit the woman holding the camera, before braking.

“Get out of the way,” the driver says. At this point, the other man briefly grabs his arm. “You put your f---ing hands on me, I will break your leg,” the driver continues. “You’re the one trying to harass me.”

“You want me to go to my own country? I’m a Canadian citizen,” the other man says. The driver responds, “Show me. Prove it. I don’t believe you.” He then mocks the person’s accent, saying: “You don’t talk like a Canadian.”

“I’m racist as f---. I don’t like you. I don’t like her. I would kill your children first,” the driver continues, before pulling away. “Don’t ever attack me again.”

A 47-year-old Stoney Creek man has been charged with dangerous driving, failing to remain at the scene of an accident, and threatening death, Hamilton police said. He has since been released and is scheduled to appear in court on Aug. 23.

A police news release said the victim “received minor injuries and was medically cleared.”

It added: “As a result of the circumstances surrounding the incident, the investigation is being forwarded to the Hate Crime Unit for review.”

Police said they would not offer details about why they suspect it is a hate crime until after the unit has completed its review.

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“This is intolerable behaviour,” Hamilton Mayor Fred Eisenberger said on Twitter, responding to a report on the incident. “This person should be shamed and he has been charged.”

The incident came after another man was arrested last week following an incident at Toronto’s Jack Layton Ferry Terminal. A man was seen in a viral video approaching a family and repeatedly shouting racially charged comments, pushing and threatening them while they waited in line.

With files from the Hamilton Spectator

Ilya Bañares is a breaking news reporter, working out of the Star’s radio room in Toronto. Follow him on Twitter: @ilyaoverseas

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