Wreckage in Little Italy after drunk driver tries to parallel park -- on top of Bixi stand

Alex Chartrand witnessed the destruction of a Bixi stand when a drunk driver tried to parallel park on top of it. (Photo: CTV News)

There are bad parking jobs, and then there are bad parking jobs.

Residents of a block in Little Italy woke up Sunday to find wreckage strewn along the entire street after, according to witnesses, two drunk men in a large pickup truck tried to parallel park on top of a stand of bike-share Bixis, flattening it.

Police are investigating the hit-and-run, which also damaged at least half a dozen cars parked on the block as the offending driver appeared to careen back and forth, bouncing off other vehicles, before making a long attempt to park on top of the Bixis.

No one was injured in the incident, police say. However, there appears to be tens of thousands of dollars in damage within just that block.

One of several cars damaged on De Gaspé St. by a drunk driver, along with most of a Bixi stand. (Photo: CTV News)

The noise of the destruction at about 3 a.m. to 3:30 was so loud that it woke many people on the street -- De Gaspé St. below Dante St. -- including Alex Chartrand, who witnessed what happened from her window.

"There was a black truck, kind of a pickup... he kept going back and forth because he wanted to park, I don't know where," said Chartrand, pointing to the former Bixi stand.

He was driving "overtop" of the bikes, "over and over," she said.

The bike stand is right next to Dante Park, a very popular picnic and gathering spot in the heart of Little Italy, often frequented by families with small children.

Neighbours said the noise lasted for at least half an hour. Most thought it was someone repeatedly revving his engine and didn't realize he was repeatedly trying to park.

The trail of destruction began at the southern end of the block, but when the large pickup got to the northern end, next to the park, it appeared to hit cars at every angle -- It drove right over the bike stand and into the wrought-iron railings of the park, twisting them, while also hitting a car across the street.

That was before the driver began to focus on doing his version of parking, with both him and his passenger occasionally getting out of the car to check on their handiwork, said Chartrand.

"It was two guys, but they were really, really, really drunk. They kept going out of the car and they couldn't walk," she said.

"I think in the first [place] there was just an accident, because they seemed to lose control and go into the fence," she said.

"When he came back [from spinning out] he was going forward and still going back and still hitting all the bikes and everything. For 20 minutes he was doing this before he decided to go," she said.

The destruction of that section of the Bixi stand was complete, but Chartrand said it seemed very unlikely, based on what she saw, that the men were actively trying to destroy the bikes. 

"It seemed like he wanted to park," she said, shrugging. She hadn't yet spoken to police.

Bixi stands have only reappeared in Montreal in the past few days.

Others whose cars were damaged were woken up on Sunday by police knocking at their doors, including Kelly Frost, whose Honda Civic lost a window and its side mirror, as well as having tire tracks left along the whole driver's side.

"You can see the tire rubber on the side of the car," she said. "He came on my car."

Kelly Frost's car, like about half a dozen on De Gaspé, was left with the imprint of the passing truck that sideswiped it. (Photo: CTV News)

Police told her they suspected a drunk driver, she said.

Police spokesperson Mariane Allaire Morin told CTV News that the incident has been marked down as a hit-and-run and there's no sign of anyone injured.

Officers in that area are very busy interviewing witnesses after a fatal shooting late Saturday just a few blocks away, at St. Laurent Blvd. and Jean-Talon St.

They haven't made any arrests yet, said Allaire Morin.