A 60-year-old man is dead after an altercation at his business in the Big Bend area of South Burnaby Thursday morning.

The incident happened just before 10 a.m. in the 7500-block of Meadow Avenue at Berto Contractors Ltd. The owner, Alberto Morgadinho, had an altercation with the driver of a van which started at the business and ended on the road outside the property, said Burnaby RCMP Corp. Brenda Gresiuk. The driver then fled.

Police were called by ambulance crews attending to Morgadinho, who died at the scene.

While some media reports say Morgadinho was chasing after thieves who were trying to steal metal or a vehicle, Gresiuk said police still have not determined what happened or how the victim died.

"Clearly something happened, we know that, and tragically it's ended in a death."

Witnesses were still being interviewed Friday and it's still not known if the victim knew the suspect, how many people were in the van or what the suspect descriptions are.

Key to the investigation so far is the vehicle involved, described as an older Econo-line van in poor condition, painted a red primer colour which has a matte finish. It also may have a temporary operating permit on the rear window as well as a licence plate.

"It's a fairly distinctive vehicle. If you've seen it lurking around in your neighbourhood, or parked on a roadside somewhere previous to this incident, we'd like to hear about that also," said Gresiuk.

"I really do believe that someone out there would have seen this unusual van."

The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) and Burnaby RCMP serious crime unit are investigating the suspicious death. A collision reconstruction team are also collecting evidence to piece together what happened.

"If this person did show up and was committing a crime, robbing or stealing or doing something, and Mr. Morgadinho intervened, then that would be a likelihood perhaps of a homicide investigation," she said. "If there was a hit-and-run, we'd be looking at hit-and-run, criminal negligence, leaving the scene of an accident, there's multiple [possible charges]."

"All of them are criminal offences so still ultimately the investigation doesn't change and how it would be handled."

Anyone with information on the incident or the van involved is asked to call the IHIT tip line at 1-877-551-4448.

wchow@burnabynewsleader.com