SUV Crashes Through Lockport's Ace Hardware

It was an exciting evening on the east end of Walnut Street. Unfortunately, it was for all the wrong reasons. Just as we were finishing up dinner, firetrucks, police cars, and an ambulance flew down the street. The twins ran outside and reported back that they had all stopped at Ace Hardware at the end of the street at the corner of Walnut Street and Davison Road.

Initial reports from the people on the street leaned towards a robbery at the store considering that the Lockport police were on the lookout for a man, wearing a baseball cap, who was last

seen fleeing the scene westward through the backyards on Walnut Street.

When a police officer stopped on the corner outside my house, he cleared up a little of the confusion. Apparently, a vehicle had driven into the store. Immediately, I hoped that no one in the store was injured. Then I wondered where the truck went through the wall. Was it through the glass annex along the Davison Road side? Was it through the atrium on the north side of the building? I decided to walk down to see what I could find. It’s only a block away.

A gold colored Cadillac SUV had slammed into the building on the south end where the two, overhead doors are located. The vehicle was fully wedged into the building, ripping down the doors and demolishing the cinder block column between them. The SUV missed hitting a tow-motor and its propane tank by only a few feet. The white fence that separated the walkway from the outdoor store area was also destroyed.

Upon crashing into the store, the driver and his passenger fled on foot. The Lockport Police were looking for a young man and a young woman. A neighbor on Walnut Street stated that he saw a man in a baseball cap and a woman with red hair running through his backyard. It was unclear whether the police had any suspects in custody, but I was told by the officer in charge, “We know who we’re looking for.” The vehicle reportedly did not belong to the driver.

The Lockport Fire Department closed Davison Road from the north side of Walnut Street to Desales Circle to control traffic in the scene. Northbound traffic was rerouted down Walnut Street.

Photos by Craig Bacon.