SCRANTON — When a truck barreled through the fence at the Garden Path, it brought an early end to the Christmas tree shopping season and left the business with a hefty repair bill.
A Champagne-colored Chevrolet Silverado single cab drove through the fence of the property, 1635 Nay Aug Ave., on Dec. 9 around 12:45 p.m., before fleeing the scene, said Kelly Mullarkey, who was inside the business with her husband, Joseph Genovese, the son of owner Sue Genovese, when the incident occurred.
While they have become accustomed to loud commotions from the nearby Green Ridge Street bridge replacement project, Mullarkey noted Joseph Genovese sensed the noise was closer Tuesday.
“We hear noise all day long, so I didn’t think anything of it,” Mullarkey said. “My husband said, ‘No, that doesn’t sound right.’ I ran out and the guy was literally through the fence.”
A truck pulled down lights and caused thousands of dollars of damage at The Garden Path along Nay Aug Avenue in Scranton. (ROBERT TOMKAVAGE/STAFF PHOTO)
A truck caused thousands of dollars in damage when it drove through a chain link fence at The Garden Path along Nay Aug Avenue in Scranton. Shown, a post was knocked off a concrete base at the property. (ROBERT TOMKAVAGE/STAFF PHOTO)
A truck slammed through a chain link fence at The Garden Path along Nay Aug Avenue in Scranton, causing thousands of dollars in damage. (ROBERT TOMKAVAGE/STAFF PHOTO)
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A truck pulled down lights and caused thousands of dollars of damage at The Garden Path along Nay Aug Avenue in Scranton. (ROBERT TOMKAVAGE/STAFF PHOTO)
The driver — a male — pulled down strings of lights that got caught on his windshield, knocked a post off a concrete pole, and then sped away before anyone could get his registration information, Mullarkey said.
“We were both on the phone with 911, and I was just in shock,” she added. “I didn’t even think to take videos or photos, or anything, and his tailgate flew down so we couldn’t get a good make of his license plate. When we saw the tire marks, it looked like he was coming straight through from the Giant. I hope he’s held accountable. I just don’t know what he was doing.”
Jerry Genovese, husband of owner Sue Genovese, estimates the incident caused about $5,000 worth of damage. He said he was shocked by the occurrence.
“Never in your wildest dreams would you think that would happen,” he said.
Mullarkey stressed the incident impacted her emotional well-being and feels fortunate the driver didn’t crash through the fence at a different time.
“Just the day before, we had a bunch of trees left,” she said. “I was shaking for like two days — people bring their kids to pick out trees — God forbid if there were little ones running along. I’m so grateful that no one got hurt.”
The Garden Path doesn’t have cameras, and crews working on the bridge project told an officer they didn’t see anything, Mullarkey said.
While the Garden Path hasn’t experienced damage rivaling Tuesday’s incident throughout more than 40 years in business, Jerry Genovese has seen some other problems, including people stealing Christmas trees and cemetery pots, and breaking through the fence to attempt to remove valuable parts from vehicles.
“I have two old trucks that we just use for storage,” he said. “They would cut the fence, and come in, so finally I put a sign up that said the catalytic converters are gone.”
Despite those instances, Jerry Genovese stated the community has been good to the business during the past four decades.
“A lot of our customers stopped in to see how we were doing,” he said. “There are still a lot of good people in Scranton.”
However, the bridge replacement project and a sewer tank project near the Garden Path have hampered sales during 2025, Jerry Genovese said.
“This year was our worst year,” he said. “They blocked off Green Ridge Street to run piping over Mother’s Day weekend … and that’s when most people come.”