photo by: Lawrence Police Department

A door is boarded up at the Sonic Drive-In at 3201 W. Sixth St. after a driver ran into the building.

The driver of a vehicle that was parked at the Sonic Drive-In on West Sixth Street lost control of his vehicle, which then proceeded to damage several structures, including a children’s playground and a gas meter, which left several residents without heat at an apartment complex, according to Lawrence police.

Police were called around 6 p.m. Monday after the vehicle that was parked in a Sonic stall went forward rather than in reverse.

The vehicle struck the Sonic building, 3201 W. Sixth St., then reversed and struck a fenced-in garbage area, police said on social media. The driver then proceeded forward, drove over a retaining wall and through two chain-link fences. He ended up in the playground of La Petite Academy, damaging some of the equipment, then went over another retaining wall and eventually came to rest against an apartment building’s wall, damaging its gas meter.

photo by: Lawrence Police Department

A driver lost control of his vehicle and damaged several structures near West Sixth Street on Monday, Nov. 14, 2022.

No one was injured in the mishap, including the driver and his passenger, police said.

Four apartments in the eight-unit building were waiting to get their heat turned back on Tuesday morning, but the Sonic was open for business.

Police and Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical evacuated residents because of a strong gas odor. The building manager took the residents to dinner at a nearby restaurant while crews got the gas turned off and allowed the building to air out, police said.

The passenger told police he wasn’t sure what caused the driver to lose control of the vehicle. The driver is elderly, and officers are not investigating drugs or alcohol impairment as a cause.