Sudbury police lay impaired driving charges against man who ran from party bus crash

Alleged impaired driver crashes into party bus Police in Greater Sudbury are investigating a weekend crash involving a limousine party bus and an alleged impaired driver.

A 35-year-old man has been charged with impaired and dangerous driving after fleeing the scene of a crash in Sudbury's Valley area on foot.

Officers were dispatched to the intersection of MR80 and Main Street in Val Caron around 11:25 p.m. July 27 following a crash, police spokesperson Kaitlyn Dunn told CTVNewsNorthernOntario.ca in an email.

"Information provided was that two individuals from one of the vehicles fled the scene on foot," Dunn said.

Peter Schaj owns Nite Lite Limousine and told CTV News in a phone interview it was his 12-passenger party bus that was hit by a white Ford pickup truck.

"It was turning left on Main Street toward Hanmer on MR80," Schaj said.

"The pickup was going south on MR80 (towards downtown)."

Adding there were two passengers on board the party bus along with the driver at the time of the crash.

He posted photos of the aftermath on social media.

"It was hit by an impaired guy who blew through a red light," Schaj said.

"The man and woman from the truck left the scene running away."

She described the two people who ran away from the scene as a bald man, 35-45, wearing a shirt and dark pants and a woman who was wearing a black dress.

Dunn confirmed the man was arrested Sunday and charged with dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, operation while impaired and failing to stop after an accident.

He was released on an appearance notice with a court date of Aug. 14," Dunn said.

"No injuries were reported at the time of the collision. The investigation is ongoing."

Schaj said having the vehicle out of service would affect his business as it is "primetime wedding season."

"This will cause a tremendous effect on everyone who booked this vehicle for future events," he said in a social media post.

"I promise that I will deal with this situation immediately and will have another party bus available soon. My apologies for any inconvenience this may cause to anyone. All other car or luxury coach services are still available."

It will be very hard to find a replacement for the totalled vehicle due to a lack of inventory, the chauffeur said.

"Don't f*%&ing drink and drive," Schaj said.

"There are so many ways to get home."