Councillor Stroud breaks silence on Kingston Transit incident

After an incident with Kingston Transit in late June led to charges for Peter Stroud, the Kingston City Councillor has broken his silence on the matter.

Kingstonist reported on the initial incident on Thursday, Jul. 11, 2019, which was sent out by Kingston Police as a press release. According to Kingston Police, Stroud caused delays to local transit after he pulled his bike in front of a bus and began yelling, screaming, and hitting the front window of the bus on Sunday, Jun. 23, 2019.

At approximately 2:45 p.m. that day, the accused man, who was later confirmed to have been Stroud, was observed by a Kingston Transit bus driver near the intersection of Brock Street and Alfred Street in downtown Kingston. The bus driver saw him riding a bicycle and attempting to flag her down as she merged back into traffic after completing one of her scheduled stops on Brock Street. The bus driver did not stop for the accused man, as it was unsafe to do so after merging back into traffic, according to Kingston Police.

Continuing along her route to Bath Road and Sir John A. Macdonald Boulevard, the bus driver observed the accused man approaching from the rear of the bus. The accused pulled in front of the bus as she waited at a red light at the intersection. He then got off of his bicycle and removed a child from the rear bicycle seat, placing the child down on the roadway. The accused man proceeded to block the bus with his bicycle, preventing the bus from moving.

The accused man then approached the front of the bus and began yelling, screaming, and hitting the front window. The accused man also began taking pictures of the bus driver. Passengers on the bus became concerned in regards to the disturbance, as well as the welfare of the child who had been left in traffic.

The Kingston Transit bus was delayed for several minutes while the accused man caused the disturbance. He eventually placed the child back in the bicycle seat and departed westbound on Bath Road after failing to stop for a red light at the intersection of Sir John A. Macdonald Boulevard. The accused man then stopped and delayed the bus for a second time further west on Bath Road. The delays affected numerous Kingston Transit passengers, routes, and transfers.

Kingston Police said they were notified about the incident on Monday, June 24, 2019. Further investigation revealed the identity of the accused to be Stroud, who police then contacted. The accused man initially refused to meet with police, but attended police headquarters on Wednesday, Jul. 10, 2019, where he was subsequently arrested. He was later released on conditions with a future court date.

Stroud was subsequently charged with causing a disturbance and obstruction of the lawful use of property under $5,000.

Stroud did not respond to Kingstonist’s attempts to contact him, and an attempted inquiry at what is believed to be Stroud’s office revealed only a ‘For Rent’ sign on the door. However the Office of the Clerk for the City of Kingston did release the following statement:

“While no complaint pursuant to the Code of Conduct on this matter has been received at this time, under section 223.8 of the Municipal Act, any resulting inquiries by the Integrity Commissioner would be expected to be suspended pending the resolution of related judicial proceedings. As this is a personal matter which is before the courts, we are unable to comment further.”

Stroud broke his media and social media silence regarding the events on Tuesday, Jul. 16, 2019, when he took to Twitter to address the matter.

“For immediate release: Regarding the recent reports about a bus, I would like to make the following statement: I did not intend to upset anyone, and I sincerely apologize to anyone who was upset by my actions,” Stroud began in a four-tweet long statement, which included a photo of a Kingston Transit bus.

“My intention was to gain access for my eldest child, who was refused service while arriving to an express bus stop before the scheduled departure,” he continued. “I turned myself into the Police Station at their suggestion, was fully co-operative, and was released immediately after being charged (sic) I will be facing the charges on the court date with the help of legal counsel (sic)”

Stroud then concluded his statement:

“I cannot comment further at this time, as the case is before the courts (sic) I ask the press to not contact me about this personal matter, but respect my privacy at this time Peter Stroud, R.N.”

The R.N. at the end of the statement refers to the fact that Stroud is a registered nurse at Kingston General Hospital.

Kingstonist has submitted multiple requests to Kingston Police asking why there was a two week gap between receiving the information from Kingston Transit and the time they reached out to Stroud. Kingstonist has additionally asked Kingston Police why they did not arrest Stroud once he was identified, but rather waited for him to attend Kingston Police Headquarters on his own schedule. At time of press, Kingston Police have not responded to these questions.

Kingstonist will continue to monitor this case and provide updates as information becomes available.

With files from Michelle Allan.