Truck crashes into Armstrong electronic store

ARMSTRONG – A strange accident involving a truck and an Armstrong electronic store drew quite a crowd Thursday afternoon.

Just past noon, employees at The Source heard an enormous crash and were shocked to find a white pickup truck in the middle of the store, surrounded by debris.

Incidentally, the store’s owner is also the Armstrong fire chief, Ian Cummings. He was on scene today watching fire crews prepare to extract the truck from the building.

“An elderly gentleman drove his truck into the store. Luckily nobody was hurt. Everything else is replaceable, the real issue is everyone is fine, shaken but fine,” Cummings said.

He suspects the man accidentally put the truck in drive instead of reverse, but can’t say for sure. While shaken by the accident, the driver, who witnesses say has a prosthetic leg, was not physically harmed.

RCMP spokesperson Gord Molenkyk says the cause of the accident is yet to be determined and the truck was been taken for mechanical inspection. He also says there's a good chance the man's driver's license will be re-examined in the near future.

Cummings says it’s a blessing none of the three employees or customers in the store at the time were hurt.

“They were all by some miraculous chance on the opposite side of the building,” Cummings said.

Molendyk says everyone inside the store were examined by ambulance staff and allowed to leave.

The bizarre scene drew plenty of curious onlookers. Employees at neighbouring businesses could be seen peering out their windows to watch the action.

“This is Armstrong—we don’t get this very often. (It’s) unwanted, but it’s excitement all the same,” Cummings said.

He's not sure how long it will be before the store can reopen. 

RCMP 

To contact the reporter for this story, email Charlotte Helston at chelston@infotelnews.ca, call (250)309-5230 or tweet @charhelston.

—This story was edited at 1:45 p.m. to add further details about the accident. 

—This story was edited at 3:55 to add further details from the Vernon RCMP.