Man charged after flipping car, slamming onto residential Brampton street

A man in his 20s somehow escaped with only minor injuries after repeatedly flipping a car onto a residential street in Brampton on Canada Day, Peel police say.

Const. Danny Marttini told CBC News that police got a call about a "single-vehicle incident" at 1:47 p.m. Wednesday.

According to a police news release issued Thursday, the driver was going eastbound on Williams Parkway approaching Valleyway Drive when he lost control of his car.

"The car hit the curb of the right lane, catapulting over the fence that separates Commodore Drive from Williams Parkway," the release states. 

"Once over the fence, the vehicle hit a tree and then hit a parked car. The car finally stopped and landed a few meters away from a residence."

Police say the man was driving in a dangerous manner, which caused him to lose control of the car.

Officers could not say how fast the man was going. Videos from the scene show debris from the cars littered all over the residential street.

Car was 'flying and it just crashed like a plane'

Syed Umar witnessed the whole incident while standing on his porch. 

"Literally, it was flying and it just crashed like a plane onto my car," said Umar.

He says his car, which was parked on the street at the time, is totalled.

Commodore Drive is a residential street where a number of young children live, Umar says.

Several community members told CBC Toronto they no longer feel safe having their kids play outside. 

"My daughters are always playing here. Not just my kids, all of the other kids in the neighbourhood. It's not safe," said Rosanie Samenanthar, whose three daughters were inside at the time of the crash.

No other area residents were hurt.

Samenanthar says the driver of the car didn't seem to be worried about his own injuries. 

"He seemed more concerned about his car being wrecked," she said.

Not the first high speed crash in neighbourhood

Community members say this is not the first time a high speed collision has happened on the street.

On May 16, another car crashed through the same fence at night hitting two parked cars.

One vehicle belonged to Saad Anwer, the other was his wife's.

"They were right here. He smashed the two cars, went through them, and he ended up through that fence" said Anwer.

In both cases, speed appears to be a big factor with the cars taking the curve on Williams Parkway too fast.

"It's not safe. There's always racing on the street," said Samenanthar.

"At night time, you can hear the cars racing around. We don't feel secure," she added.

100% increase in street racing calls, police say

Street racing is a problem right across Peel Region, police say.

Last year between April 1 and June 1, police say they received 270 calls about street racing.

In that same time period this year, police say those calls have more than doubled and they believe the COVID-19 pandemic is the reason.

"The open roadways have made it easier for individuals that partake in street level street racing activities and organizers of these events to take advantage of the open roadways during COVID," said Insp. Peter Danos, who is in charge of road safety services.

Some residents in the neighbourhood are calling for the city to put photo radar on Williams Parkway.

But Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown says they are only permitted to do it in designated safety zones with schools and community centres.

However, Brown says he is prepared to increase police presence in the area.

"We're going to need a similar blitz on Williams Parkway to ensure that there is significant consequences and significant penalties for reckless behaviour, reckless driving."

The 28-year-old man from Wasaga Beach has been charged with dangerous operation of a motor vehicle. He is scheduled to appear in court in September.