537
01-06-2004, 01:55 PM
Man Drives SUV Through Store
One Woman Injured
POSTED: 11:03 AM PST January 6, 2004
UPDATED: 12:22 PM PST January 6, 2004
CITY OF ORANGE, Calif. -- A 69-year-old man drove his Ford Explorer through the front doors of a Stater Bros. supermarket in Orange, Calif., Tuesday, injuring a woman who was briefly pinned under the SUV, police said.
NBC4's Justin Jaeger reported that fire officials had to roll the SUV backwards to untrap the woman.
The woman, in her late 20s, was taken to a hospital, and four others suffered minor injuries in the crash and were treated at the scene, said Sgt. Dave Hill of the Orange Police Department.
Officials said the SUV was stopped by the cash registers and debris fallen from the shelves.
The driver, whose name was not immediately released, crashed his SUV through the mechanical front doors at the store at 1800 E. Collins Ave. shortly after 10 a.m., Hill said.
The unidentified woman, who was pinned under the vehicle for a few minutes, was taken on a "trauma run" to Western Medical Center in Santa Ana, Hill said.
The extent of her injuries were not immediately known, he said, adding that she was apparently a customer.
It was not immediately known if the others who were injured were employees or customers, Hill said.
The SUV destroyed two of the market's half-dozen check stands, but the store, while closed at this point, appeared to remain structurally sound, Hill said.
"It looks like the vehicle was brought to a stop by two separate check-out aisles," he said.
The unidentified driver, who was not injured, was being questioned by the department's major accident investigation team, the sergeant said.
"We're looking into exactly why this happened, what caused it, and trying to put all the pieces together to come up with a conclusion," Hill said.
"Our investigators are speaking with him (the driver) now, and we're interviewing him in the hopes that we'll get more information about what he was doing before the collision and what exactly caused this collision today."
An NBC4 reporter asked Hill about skid marks, indicating the motorist may have tried to apply the brakes.
"One of the things that our reconstructionists will do is they will look at the skid marks, they'll measure them," he said. "They'll do an exhaustingly thorough investigation with the physical evidence here to determine whether or not he was braking, accelerating, whether he was turning at the time, and just exactly the vehicle was doing ... at the time of the crash."
He said it was unclear whether the driver "was a customer or just here in the area, but we'll try to find that out, as well."
Stater Bros. is not involved in the current strike and lock-out involving supermarket employees at three other companies, Hill said.
[Story here...] (http://www.nbc4.tv/news/2744704/detail.html)
One Woman Injured
POSTED: 11:03 AM PST January 6, 2004
UPDATED: 12:22 PM PST January 6, 2004
CITY OF ORANGE, Calif. -- A 69-year-old man drove his Ford Explorer through the front doors of a Stater Bros. supermarket in Orange, Calif., Tuesday, injuring a woman who was briefly pinned under the SUV, police said.
NBC4's Justin Jaeger reported that fire officials had to roll the SUV backwards to untrap the woman.
The woman, in her late 20s, was taken to a hospital, and four others suffered minor injuries in the crash and were treated at the scene, said Sgt. Dave Hill of the Orange Police Department.
Officials said the SUV was stopped by the cash registers and debris fallen from the shelves.
The driver, whose name was not immediately released, crashed his SUV through the mechanical front doors at the store at 1800 E. Collins Ave. shortly after 10 a.m., Hill said.
The unidentified woman, who was pinned under the vehicle for a few minutes, was taken on a "trauma run" to Western Medical Center in Santa Ana, Hill said.
The extent of her injuries were not immediately known, he said, adding that she was apparently a customer.
It was not immediately known if the others who were injured were employees or customers, Hill said.
The SUV destroyed two of the market's half-dozen check stands, but the store, while closed at this point, appeared to remain structurally sound, Hill said.
"It looks like the vehicle was brought to a stop by two separate check-out aisles," he said.
The unidentified driver, who was not injured, was being questioned by the department's major accident investigation team, the sergeant said.
"We're looking into exactly why this happened, what caused it, and trying to put all the pieces together to come up with a conclusion," Hill said.
"Our investigators are speaking with him (the driver) now, and we're interviewing him in the hopes that we'll get more information about what he was doing before the collision and what exactly caused this collision today."
An NBC4 reporter asked Hill about skid marks, indicating the motorist may have tried to apply the brakes.
"One of the things that our reconstructionists will do is they will look at the skid marks, they'll measure them," he said. "They'll do an exhaustingly thorough investigation with the physical evidence here to determine whether or not he was braking, accelerating, whether he was turning at the time, and just exactly the vehicle was doing ... at the time of the crash."
He said it was unclear whether the driver "was a customer or just here in the area, but we'll try to find that out, as well."
Stater Bros. is not involved in the current strike and lock-out involving supermarket employees at three other companies, Hill said.
[Story here...] (http://www.nbc4.tv/news/2744704/detail.html)