Yarker man faces drunk driving charges after crash takes down Kingston hydro lines

A 31-year-old Yarker man is facing drunk driving charges after a collision brought down hydro wires Thursday evening.

According to police, a black Dodge Journey struck a hydro pole at the intersection of King Street West and Portsmouth Avenue shortly after 7:30 p.m., causing the pole and power lines to fall.

The driver allegedly fled the scene but was later found by police in Lake Ontario Park. He was arrested without incident and later provided breath samples, which police say indicated he had more than twice the legal limit of alcohol in his system

He was charged with impaired driving, excess alcohol while driving and failing to remain at the scene of a collision.

After that collision, a black Ford F-150 with no connection to the other vehicle or the accused was driving westbound on King Street West when police say it struck the downed hydro lines, which were difficult to see.

“Obviously, because it was at night, she did not see the power lines and she stuck those power lines enough that the F-150 actually went up into the air a little bit and came back down to rest,” said Sgt. Steve Koopman.

The woman driving the F-150 was not injured, but remained in her vehicle for some time due to the possible danger of electrocution.

Utilities Kingston attended the scene and the woman was safely extricated.

Koopman said the fact that no one was injured in this dangerous collision was like “a miracle.”

“This was a pretty massive collision last night. Luckily that no one was really injured whatsoever,” Koopman said.