Power pole lands on car in downtown Lethbridge

Maria Wannop had a real case of the Mondays on the morning of March 11.

She was sitting in her car in a downtown parking lot near 8 Street South and 3 Avenue around 8:30 a.m. when she heard something strange after a large vehicle passed by.

“He was unloading some construction stuff and I was reading a book and I heard a crack,” Wannop said. “I looked up — he had knocked one pole over and then I started honking my horn and then another one smashed the back of my car.”

The Lethbridge Police Service (LPS) said a delivery vehicle struck the powerlines while crossing the street.

The driver’s crane was partially extended and caught on the lines, pulling five poles out of place.

City crews were on hand to clear up the scene and take down the damaged poles.

The city’s electric department said no one lost power as a result of the incident.

A handful of street lights and traffic lights turned off but were turned back on by a generator, officials said.

LPS said the 25-year-old driver of the delivery vehicle was charged for failing to ascertain sufficient space for movement which comes with a $155 ticket.

Most of the damage was to Shaw infrastructure, investigators said.

Global News reached out to the company to see how many customers were impacted but had not heard back as of late Monday afternoon.

Wannop said she was a little shaken but wasn’t hurt — her car took all of the damage.

“The back window and a couple dents and scratches,” she said. “So that’s pretty good for a pole on the car.”

Wannop added it’s something she can now look back and laugh at.