A Kingston city councillor has been charged after police say a man allegedly became “enraged” with a Kingston Transit bus driver.
Coun. Peter Stroud, who represents Kingston’s Sydenham District, refused to give a comment about the incident but did say he was seeking legal counsel to deal with his charges — causing a disturbance and obstructing property under $5,000.
Nevertheless, on Tuesday, Stroud took to Twitter, apologizing for the incident.
“My intention was to gain access for my eldest child, who was refused service while arriving to an express bus stop before the scheduled departure,” Stroud wrote in another tweet.
According to Kingston police, on June 23, just before 3 p.m., a Kingston Transit driver saw a man trying to flag her down near the intersection of Brock and Alfred streets. Police say she did not stop for the man because it was unsafe to do so.
When she reached the Bath Road and Sir John A. Macdonald Boulevard intersection, police say the man pulled up in front of the bus, got off of his bicycle and removed a child from a bicycle seat, placing it on the road in front of the bus to keep it from moving forward.
Police say the man then “began yelling, screaming and hitting the front window.” He also took pictures of the bus driver, while passengers on the bus started to become concerned about the safety of the child, who had been left in traffic, police say.
The man allegedly held up the bus for several minutes before he put the child back in the bicycle seat and continued down Bath Road, failing to stop for a red light at the Sir John A. MacDonald Boulevard intersection.
Police say the man then stopped the bus again farther down Bath Road, causing further transit delays for passengers.
Police learned of the incident on June 24 and were able to identify the suspect. When they tried to contact him, he allegedly refused to meet with police.
Police say he came to Kingston police headquarters on July 10, where he was arrested and charged.
Kingston police did not respond to requests for further comment.
The Kingston city clerk’s office and Kingston Mayor, Bryan Patterson, were unable to comment further than saying that no complaint had been filed against Stroud in relation to the city’s code of conduct. They both went on to add that even if there was a complaint, an integrity commissioner would not conduct a review while charges are before the court.
According to law experts in the municipal law field, if convicted these charges shouldn’t affect Stroud maintaining his seat as the Sydenham district councillor.
The only way he would not be able to act as a councillor is if he was serving a prison sentence, which keep him from voting in council.
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