Man charged after truck crashes through Embrun children's centre
Last Updated: Thursday, December 20, 2007 | 7:03 PM ET
CBC News
Ontario Provincial Police charged an eastern Ontario man Thursday with operating an unsafe vehicle, a day after a pickup truck crashed into the garage of a family drop-in centre, narrowly missing five children and three adults at a Christmas party.
Police say Yvan St. Jean of Bourget, Ont., was swerving to avoid a pedestrian and another vehicle on Wednesday afternoon when his vehicle slammed into the small building in Embrun, about 25 kilometres east of Ottawa.
"Alcohol was not a factor in this particular investigation," said OPP Sgt. Tony Collard. "However, we are considering … the vehicle's state of disrepair. So I guess vehicle safety is a big issue here."
Catherine Rusaw, a spokeswoman for the centre, said the truck rammed into the garage door. That caused the garage door to slam into a playpen holding two babies and pin three other children who were in the garage for the party.
"It's truly a miracle that no one got hurt," she said, adding that most of the kids were in the back of the garage, which is attached to the centre.







