There was a calamity in the back yard then an eerie silence. In the seconds it took the resident of 4531 Bauch Avenue to reach the window, the people causing the racket had fled the area but they left behind their pickup and a route of ruin back to where it all began.
The alleged driver was released from jail the day before, said residents of the neighbourhood, and he had been celebrating with a group at a house party that kept many awake into the night.
At about 8:30 a.m. Friday he and a female companion reportedly got into a pickup parked in the rear driveway of 4520 1st Avenue (not far from Tabor Boulevard). Police analyzing the scene traced how the pickup was reversed in a speedy semicircle out into the alley and apparently was aimed at the driveway next door, but it missed. The truck struck the fence instead. The corner post and several panels were exploded into kindling in between 4520 and 4535 1st Avenue.
The driver then put the truck into forward gear, peeling gravel and rocketing across the alley. About 40 feet later the vehicle ploughed through the back fence at 4531 Bauch. Continuing on its way, the left side of the truck sheared the corner off the backyard shed, spilling tools and other contents around the area. The right side of the truck clipped the hot tub and shoved it (weighed down with water) two feet off its usual resting spot.
The front end of the truck went through its third fence into the backyard at 4545 Bauch and met up with a mature spruce tree that sacrificed a trunk wound to finally halt the progressing carnage.
The spray of mud on the garage wall behind showed that the truck was still peeling rubber across the lawn when the last impact happened.
"My kids were in that hot tub just last night," said the homeowner with the most damage to survey. "What if someone had been anywhere in this guy's path? Nobody would have had time to move."
"We can't find our cat," said the adjacent neighbour, looking under debris. "I hope it just got spooked and run off."
So too did the two in the vehicle. Despite the fact several neighbours knew the identity of the alleged driver, the male and female scrambled out of the wreckage and ran away.
"They were seen," said one neighbour. "The female was walking OK but the male was limping and staggering."
Police brought a dog to the area to track the suspects. That was unsuccessful but RCMP had other leads to pursue as well. By 3 p.m. these were successful.
"We have located the driver of the vehicle," said RCMP spokesman Gary Godwin. "The two occupants were a male and female both in their 30s. Alcohol was involved. The driver is known to police and he has been charged with driving without due care, driving without a valid license, and failing to remain at the scene of a collision."
A contingent from the Metis Housing Society was at the scene taking notes and making calls. The group owns the home the driver was partying in. They and the affected neighbours were in discussions regarding insurance coverage for all the damage.
