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A car went off the road and flew through the front entrance of a hardware store in Saskatoon on Friday.
It happened around 1:30 a.m. CST on Central Avenue in the Sutherland neighborhood.
The Saskatoon Fire Department was the first to respond to the scene. Firefighters discovered a car inside the store, where the front registers used to be. They assessed the damage and made sure the car was not running or leaking fluids.
No one was found inside, but security cameras captured the criminals fleeing the scene. No arrests have been reported so far and police say they are still investigating.
Store owner Wyatt Zacharias said he received a call from police and arrived at the scene around 3:30 a.m. CST to find the entrance to his business in ruins.
“I am very grateful that this happened after hours while we were closed,” he said. “It could have been devastating if there had been people in the building or if I had one of my employees.”
Zacharias said he’s happy everyone is safe.
“It looks like from the surveillance footage, even the driver and passenger seemed unharmed, which is good considering all this. Things are easy to replace, as long as the people are okay.”
Zacharias pointed out a detail in the security video that suggests the driver was intoxicated.
“We could see that they actually went back to the car to get their beer,” he said. “After they left the building, we found evidence of beer cans and things scattered throughout the store.”
Zacharias got his construction team there in just three and a half hours. Despite the destruction, they were able to open their stores at 8 in the morning, like any other day.
“We already have the front of the store patched up and we were able to put together a quick checkout system, because they took out our two checkouts in the front of the store,” Zacharias said. “We also have our construction side of the business, Zak’s Building Group. I was able to call some of my construction crews and get them here early to start fixing this.”
As for more permanent repairs, Zacharias said they will likely take a minimum of two months and cost between $30,000 and $40,000. He said support from customers and the community was immediate.
“It’s really amazing, even some neighboring businesses have stopped by and offered to help and support, and some have left donuts and stuff,” Zacharias said. “It’s amazing and makes us love what we do even more, just knowing that we’re building these relationships in our community with great people.”
