UPDATED: No one injured after car slams through wall of CIBC

By Kyra Hoggan

Police issued a press release this afternoon relating to a vehicular incident this morning:

The Castlegar RCMP are investigating an incident that occurred on Dec. 18 at 10:30 a.m in which a vehicle drove into the CIBC bank at 1801 Columbia Avenue causing extensive damage to the bank.

No one was injured during the event.  It appears that the driver was attempting to park and hit the gas instead of the brake, pushing over the barrier and into the lunchroom area of the bank.  The driver, a 67-year-old from Castlegar,  is facing charges under the Motor Vehicle Act. 

Previous coverage:

Fire crews were already on a call, rescuing an 86-year-old man who had fallen into a crawl space at the Kinnaird Park Church (the old middle school) when they received a call about a vehicle which had smashed into the CIBC building just off Columbia Avenue, according to Fire Chief Sam Lattanzio.

The fallen man was transported to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

“As we were wrapping that one up, we got a call (at 10:33 a.m.) for a vehicle that had been driven into the side of a building,” Lattanzio said. “Ladder One arrived on scene at 10:39 a.m. to find an SUV halfway inside the building.”

Miraculously, no one was injured in the crash.

“The driver was shaken up, and we left her in the care of BC Ambulance Service,” he said, adding the cause of the crash remains under investigation.

“My understanding is, the bank will be closed until a structural engineer can inspect the building for structural integrity,” he said. “There was significant damage to the building, and the SUV is most likely a write-off.”