

Rachael D'Amore, CP24.com





Police in York Region say that five people were hospitalized Friday morning after a driver suffered a medical emergency in the parking lot of Hillcrest Mall, causing his vehicle to slam into a hair salon.

It happened at around 10:30 a.m. at a salon located inside Hillcrest Mall on Yonge Street and Carrville Road.

York Regional Police Const. Laura Nicolle told CP24 that the driver of the truck had some sort of medical episode while at the wheel and lost control, slamming into the entrance of the mall and through into the interior of the salon.

Police say three people, including the driver, were taken to hospital following the collision to be treated for minor injuries. The driver is expected to make a full recovery, Nicolle said.

Two other victims took themselves to hospital for treatment for “very minor” injuries.

“We believe that he was suffering from a medical emergency that caused him to lose control of the vehicle and go off the road and collide into the store,” Nicolle said. “At this point we can say that we don’t believe there was any intent involved or any offences committed in terms of his driving.”

Nicolle said the crash caused “pretty significant damage” to the store but given the circumstances, it could have been much worse.

“Fortunately no one was in the direct area where they could have been seriously hurt,” she said. “It’s positive that everyone will make a full recovery.”

Video from the scene sent to CP24 by a witness shows a white pickup truck inside what appears the NRG Salon and Spa surrounded by debris. Police have taped off a large section near the entrance of the mall as they tend to the scene and some nearby stores have been closed for the day out of precaution.

A woman having her hair done in the salon at the time told CP24 that the whole ordeal happened in a matter of seconds.

She said a large crash shook the building and when they looked up, a truck was sitting in the reception area.

“It was shocking… The whole thing was just shocking. It was such a thunderous shake. The whole salon shook and then the truck was there and everybody was like, ‘What just happened?’” she said.

“We got up and walked around and then some people started shouting that the beams were shaking and that we needed to get out. We were just completely stunned.”

Another witness told CP24 that one of the victims is a man who had just walked into Hillcrest Mall to give blood at the clinic located inside.

“I hope everyone involved is okay. Our clinic was supposed to be open from eight to two but we closed around 10:30 because of what happened,”Malvika Arun, a manager with the Canadian Blood Services clinic, told CP24. “We have so far collected 13 units of blood, our expected collection is 40 units.”

Others reported that the driver of the truck appeared “totally unresponsive.”

“The person inside was shaking,” said a witness who wished to remain anonymous. “There was glass everywhere… people everywhere. It was just crazy.”

Police say the investigation is ongoing and ask anyone who hasn’t already spoken to them about what they witnessed to call them or Crime Stoppers.