More than two weeks after a hit-and-run that sent an LTC bus crashing through the front of a pet clinic on Oxford Street, a 26-year-old London man has been charged.
Rudyard Reid is charged with failure to stop at a red light, being a G1 licence holder unaccompanied by a qualified driver, failure to stop for police, failure to stop at a stop sign, driving the wrong way in one way traffic, failure to remain at the scene of a crash, and careless driving.
The charges stem from an incident on October 30 in which police spotted a silver Volkswagen Jetta driving the wrong way on a side street around 11:45 p.m. The officer tried to stop the vehicle near the intersection of Hyman Street and Waterloo Street, but the driver turned off the headlights and took off north on Waterloo Street.
The car then went through a red light on Waterloo and Oxford and collided with a city bus. The force of the collision sent the bus through the wall of the North London Neighbourhood Pet Clinic and into its front reception area. The driver of the Jetta then got out of the vehicle and ran away, police said.
Officers searched the area immediately after the crash, however, they were unable to locate the suspect driver.
Three days later, police announced they had identified the driver. The individual's name was not released until Friday when police also disclosed the charges.
Reid is scheduled to appear in court in relation to the Ontario Highway Traffic Act offences on December 17.
The crash caused $610,000 damage. Luckily, the bus driver only suffered minor injuries and no one was inside the pet clinic when it was hit.