Tensions between tenant advocates and property management staff in Toronto’s Parkdale neighbourhood escalated Tuesday when a truck driven by MetCap’s president nearly ran over a man trying to deliver a letter on behalf of elderly tenants.

The driver was Brent Merrill, president and chief executive officer of MetCap Living Management Inc., a company that operates rental buildings across the west end neighbourhood.

Merrill told the Star he had come to the aid of a property manager who he claimed was being threatened by protesters. He said he picked up the manager on Tyndall Ave.

“He hopped into my truck. There were protesters trying to chase him,” Merrill said, adding he was trying to drive away when a man stepped in front of his pickup truck.

“We were moving the whole time. The vehicle never stopped . . . eventually he stepped to the side,” he said. “This is just escalating to the point where we need to have some reason and my people shouldn’t be threatened. They are only doing their job.”

Tenants and advocates have called a “rent strike” — withholding rent — in response to what they said is a lack of repair work and unfair rent hikes at multiple MetCap buildings in Parkdale.

The man who was nearly hit, Kevin Laforest, 26, said he was only trying to speak with the property manager and Merrill about the plight of two elderly tenants who have lived in the building for about 20 years.

“My hope was they would stop,” Laforest said. “I put my hands on the front of the truck, but they overtook my ability to backpedal and kind of ran me down a little bit.”

Laforest said the couple — Woodbury Main and Ruth Ryckman — were asked to move out of their apartment for two days and nights during painting at 135 Tyndall Ave., a MetCap-owned building.

They were offered money for one night at a motel, he said, but were told they would have to cover the rest.

“They said no, they can’t afford that. That is what this was about,” Laforest said. The proposed solution, as detailed in the letter, was for the building owners to cover the cost of the couple’s stay or find somewhere they could live while the unit is painted, he said.

The property manager refused to speak with the activists, left the building and was then picked up by Merrill, while he drove north on Tyndall Ave.

Merrill said he had been called by other MetCap employees after protesters disrupted a meeting, threatened the property manager and scared him to the point that he fled the building.

In a video taken by a tenant who lives in a nearby building, Laforest can be seen standing in front of the pickup truck before it accelerates. He runs backward, with his hands on the hood, before the speed of the vehicle forces him to jump to one side and roll across the road.

Laforest, who had scrapes on his hand and elbow, said he was told by traffic officers on the scene he could report the incident to a collision reporting centre.

“My understanding is that the threshold for them to press charges is either serious bodily harm or somebody has to be transported to the hospital. Because they deemed neither was the case here, I was given Brent Merrill’s information, which I can take to a collision reporting centre and file a report there.”

Merrill said police told him he could file a report if there was damage to his truck.

Const. Clint Stibbe of Toronto Police Traffic Services said they are asking for witnesses to come forward. “This is still an ongoing investigation, and there has been no determination on charges,” he said.

Tenants in multiple MetCap buildings have been withholding rent since May 1 and told the Star they plan to continue their “rent strike” through June.

Merrill has said he has made repeated attempts to manage the repair issues and the rent hikes are needed for capital repairs in the older buildings.

Rental rules mean landlords can apply for and receive what are known as above-guideline rent increases for significant and unavoidable costs, including capital repairs. Tenant groups maintain the increases are used to squeeze out low-income tenants so landlords can raise the rent.

Merrill said he left a message at Parkdale Community Legal Services on Monday to start the process of finding a solution to the strike and escalating tensions at the buildings.

Woodbury Main, 82, has lived in the building with his wife, Ruth Ryckman, 67, for about two decades. He said they were offered $100 to get a motel room during what is expected to be at least two days of painting.

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The advocates wanted the couple’s full costs covered or for them to be put up in a safe and clean place during painting.

Main said they hoped to stay in another unit in the building and even offered to stay while the painting took place, but was told the fumes made it impossible.

“Where are we going to get a room for $100 for two nights? You can’t.”