Burlington police chase ends with car crashing through tattoo parlour
Cars along QEW hit during pursuit; two women taken to hospital
A vehicle crashed through a building on Drummond Road Thursday — pinning a woman inside — after allegedly failing to stop for police during a pursuit that originated in Burlington.
Ontario Provincial Police Sgt. Kerry Schmidt took to his Twitter page at about 1:30 p.m. to report about a “serious situation” on Drummond Road, near the Queen Elizabeth Way.
He said the collision into the building happened after multiple incidents that started in Burlington.
“OPP from the Burlington area were attempting to stop and investigate a vehicle. That vehicle failed to remain, fled the scene and was involved in several collisions and several incidents on the QEW as it was fleeing from police,” said Schmidt.
He said other officers from the Niagara area were able to intercept this vehicle and follow it on the QEW towards Niagara Falls. The vehicle continued to flee and evade police.
The vehicle exited the highway and Schmidt said a short distance later crashed into a building on Drummond Road, pinning a woman who was inside the building, injuring her.
He said the female driver, who is in her 20s, was taken into custody. At the time, Schmidt said he did not know where the female driver is from.
“Both the victim woman who was in that building as well as the driver have both been taken to
hospital,” he said, adding at the time of his Twitter post that neither of them appeared to have life-threatening injuries.
Schmidt said OPP, Niagara Regional Police, Niagara Emergency Medical Services and Niagara Falls Fire Department were on scene.
When contacted for an update, Schmidt said he was unable to say anything further about what transpired because the Special Investigations Unit invoked its mandate.
The SIU is the civilian oversight agency responsible for investigating any incident of serious injury or death involving police in Ontario.
The building the vehicle crashed through was on Drummond Road, near Ash Street.
The building is owned by Paradise Pools and Spas, but the portion of the building through which the car drove is rented out to a tattoo parlour, said Michelle Smith, vice-president of Paradise Pools and Spas.
“(The vehicle) smashed right through the tattoo parlour and pinned (a woman) against the wall, she was air-lifted to the hospital,” said Smith.
Laura Coens, an employee at Paradise Pools and Spas, said she heard a “big bang” and ran to see what was going on.
“We opened the door and … she was pinned up against the wall,” said Coens.
“We were ripping things out trying to get her out and then the fire department showed up.”