A driver is facing several charges after crashing into the pool area of D’Amelio Park early Friday morning.
Niagara Falls police were called to the park at Centre Avenue and Aaron Griffin Way about 3:30 a.m. for a report that a vehicle had driven into the pool and the driver had fled the scene. The caller was also able to give a brief description of the driver.
On arrival, officers located a heavily damaged and unoccupied 2007 Cadillac Escalade inside the pool area. Police ran the license plate and, from that information, officers were able to identify the likely driver as a 36-year-old man, who matched the description and is known to police and has been associated with that vehicle.
A preliminary investigation indicated that the vehicle was travelling east on Garden Avenue at a high rate of speed when it left the roadway and crashed through the fence on the west side of the property. The vehicle continued and managed to somehow cross over the pool without going in the water and land on the other side of the pool before crashing through the fence on the east side of the property.
About a half hour later, officers were dispatched to a nearby residence after the driver called police to report the accident, among other things, and gave them his location. The driver was taken into custody without incident.
The Niagara Falls Department of Public Works was notified and the director responded to assess the damage to the fence and pool.