Woman killed as car crashes studio
Driver in fatal accident on Queen St. E. could have been attempting to park, police say
A Tuesday morning dance class was about to start at a studio on a quiet east-end street when a white sport utility vehicle came crashing through the building.
The collision at Bold Steps Dance Studio, on Spruce Hill Rd. just north of Queen St. E. in the Beach, left a 68-year-old woman dead and two other customers injured, according to police.
One was taken to hospital with serious, but not life-threatening injuries, while the other was treated for minor injuries and released.
Stephanie Hardman, who lives across the street, was chatting with her roofer just before 10 a.m. when she heard a series of loud noises: a “squeal,” a crash and, finally, screams.
She called 911. Her roofer rushed inside the building to help a woman who was lying down injured, but still conscious, she said. She ran home to fetch towels “for the blood,” she told the Star.
“I’m just heartbroken,” she said. “They are just in there dancing . . . I have no idea how this occurred.”
Rob Norton, owner of a nearby Pet Valu store, says he also ran over to the dance studio after he heard a loud noise. He saw that a woman had been hit and called an ambulance immediately.
“I saw a lot of blood, a lot of glass that caused lacerations to her skin,” Norton said.
“It’s very sad. . . . This is a tight-knit community,” he said. “I know most of the people here by sight, and the people in the studio go there regularly to work out.”
According to its website, the studio specializes in highland and step dance. A picture gallery shows smiling students practicing in tartan skirts and socks.
Although the crash is still under investigation, Toronto police Const. Clint Stibbe said the SUV was “possibly in reverse,” trying to park in a spot in front of the building when it overshot its mark and rammed into the studio a level below.
The 65-year-old female driver hasn’t been charged, police said.
“What we’re looking at is mechanical, medical or driver error (explanations). It could be any one of those,” he told reporters at the scene on Tuesday afternoon.
The police had to call on Toronto Fire for help in extracting the SUV from the back of the dance studio. Firefighters built a ramp out of wooden blocks to tow the Toyota RAV4 out of the building and onto the bed of a truck. The SUV is to be checked at an inspection facility to learn more about the causes of the collision, Stibbe said.