A 27-year-old Niagara-on-the-Lake man is facing impaired and dangerous driving charges after police say his vehicle left Lakeshore Road, entered a ditch, went airborne, crossed Dorchester Street and slammed into a building early Wednesday, causing an estimated $120,000 in damage.
Niagara Regional Police said the vehicle was travelling east on Lakeshore Road when it left the north side of the roadway near the bend where Lakeshore turns into Mary Street, eventually striking 333 Mary St.
Based on that route and the layout of the bend, the vehicle would have crossed the front lawn of 339 Mary St. before hitting 333 Mary St.
Niagara-on-the-Lake Fire & Emergency Services responded at about 4:03 a.m.
Firefighters helped the driver, the only person in the vehicle, out of the car before Niagara Emergency Medical Services took over his care.
Police said the man was taken to an out-of-town hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. No other injuries were reported.
Credit: DAVE VAN DE LAAR
The impact left the vehicle crushed into the side of the mixed-use building, which houses travel agency Upper Canada Travel on the lower right, Budapest Bakeshop’s office on the lower left and three apartments upstairs.The man has been charged with impaired operation and dangerous operation of a motor vehicle.
Police said they are not releasing the driver’s name at this time because officers are proceeding by blood warrant. His injuries prevented him from providing a breath sample at the time of the crash, and police said they will confirm his blood-alcohol level later.
Police said the blood-test results could lead to an additional charge of impaired operation with a blood-alcohol concentration over 0.08.
They would not provide details about what evidence or observations led officers to lay the initial impaired operation charge before those results were available, saying that information is before the courts.
The impact left the vehicle crushed into the side of the mixed-use building, which houses travel agency Upper Canada Travel on the lower right, Budapest Bakeshop’s office on the lower left and three apartments upstairs.
Two of those apartments were occupied when the vehicle hit, building co-owner Nadja Lepere said. She owns the property with her sister, Christine.
Lepere said one of the tenants called her shortly after the crash, bringing her to the scene.
Part of the building’s exterior was torn open, a ground-floor window was damaged and debris was scattered around the property.
“It’s like a movie, you know,” Lepere said while looking over the damage later Wednesday morning.
By 11 a.m., Lepere remained at the scene waiting for a structural engineer to assess the building before the vehicle could be safely removed and repairs could begin. Tenants had been temporarily relocated and, Lepere said, were told not to go back inside until the building was deemed safe.
She said police gave that instruction, though police told The Lake Report it could not confirm who did.
Police said they did not have an estimated speed for the vehicle and that the building’s structural integrity would have to be determined by an engineer.
Credit: DAVE VAN DE LAAR
Those in the neighbourhood take stock of the damage to 333 Mary St. Building co-owner Nadja Lepere said Lepere said one of the tenants called her shortly after the crash, bringing her to the scene. “It’s like a movie, you know,” she said.For Lepere, the damage was secondary to the fact that everyone survived.
“Life is the most important,” she said.
Still, she said it was difficult to take in what had happened to the building.
“It’s a mess. It’s devastating. We’re devastated,” Lepere said, adding, “It’s property. It’s not as important as the lives.”
The building is insured and the owners had already contacted their insurance agent, she said, but they were still waiting to learn how long it could take to put everything back in order.
Lepere is now worried about how the crash will affect the tenants who were inside and whether they will feel comfortable continuing to live near the bend.
“That’s my number one concern,” she said.
Even so, Lepere said she was trying to keep the damage in perspective.
“This too shall pass. We’ll get through it.”
Nearby resident Ian Gregg came across the scene around 8 a.m. while riding his bike out for coffee.
He said crashes of this kind are not something residents often see in that part of town.
“We don’t expect this.”
Gregg said he could not see obvious skid marks along the vehicle’s apparent path and was baffled by how little of an incline there was.
“What gets me is there’s not much of an incline here to gather that much air,” he said.
