Collision into plaza causes damages to local businesses

The workday got off to a strange start for those business owners in Bayridge Centre shopping plaza, located at the corner of Bayridge Drive and Taylor Kidd Boulevard in Kingston’s west end.

At approximately 9:58 a.m. on Wednesday, Jun. 30, 2021, Kingston Fire and Rescue, Frontenac Paramedics, and Kingston Police were dispatched to the plaza after a black pickup truck collided with the building, breaking numerous windows. The vehicle narrowly missed the entrance to Kumon learning centre, driving directly through the main window of SBT Comics in the inner corner of the plaza. According to SBT Comics owner, Mark Fardella, who posted about the incident on Facebook, no one was injured at his business.

“Comics will be delayed today. A truck just drove through the store and almost killed me. Between a robbery, covid and this… I’m pretty tired,” Fardella wrote on Facebook.

While witnesses reported smoke wafting from the truck after the collision, initial reports indicated there were no major injuries sustained as a result of the crash. According to Kingston Police, one male inside one of the stores sustained minor injuries and was transported to hospital.

Police said the collision occurred after the driver, a male in his 60s, lost control of his vehicle and drove through the entrance and front glass windows of the building. No charges are pending, according to Const. Cam Mack of the Kingston Police Traffic Safety Division.

Sadly for Fardella, broken windows at his popular comic book and games store aren’t uncommon. At the end of 2020 and the beginning of 2021, SBT Comics was the victim of at least two break-ins, both of which saw the same windows smashed in to gain entry.

The estimated cost of damages was not available at time of publication. Kingstonist will update this article as more information becomes available.