201810.09
0

5 injured after 2 SUVs crash into Placentia thrift store

by in News

An elderly motorist lost control of her SUV, which crashed into a parked vehicle, pushing both SUVs into a thrift store in Placentia and injuring herself as well as four other people on Tuesday, Oct. 9, officials and witnesses said.

The 88-year-old woman behind the wheel of a white Chevrolet Suburban crashed into a silver Chevrolet Yukon parked in front of the Goodwill at 1101 E. Imperial Highway sometime before 4:12 p.m., according to Placentia Police Capt. Eric Point.

  • The scene at a Goodwill store in Placentia on Tuesday, October 9, 2018 after an elderly motorist lost control of her white Chevy Suburban and it crashed into a parked GMC Yukon pushing both SUVs through the glass windows of the storefront and injuring several people. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

  • The scene inside a Goodwill store in Placentia on Tuesday, October 9, 2018 after an elderly motorist lost control of her white Chevy Suburban, left, and it crashed into a parked GMC Yukon, right, pushing both SUVs through the glass windows of the storefront and injuring several people. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

  • Sound
    The gallery will resume inseconds

  • Placentia police officer Brian McInerney investigates the scene at a Goodwill store in Placentia on Tuesday, October 9, 2018 after an elderly motorist lost control of her white Chevy Suburban, left, and it crashed into a parked with a parked GMC Yukon, right, pushing both SUVs through the glass windows of the storefront. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

  • Both airbags of a white Chevy Suburban deployed after it crashed into a parked GMC Yukon pushing both SUVs through the glass windows of the storefront at a Goodwill store in Placentia on Tuesday, October 9, 2018 (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

  • Skid marks can be seen on the pavement after an elderly motorist lost control of her white Chevy Suburban and it crashed into a parked GMC Yukon pushing both SUVs through the glass windows of a Goodwill store in Placentia on Tuesday, October 9, 2018. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

  • The scene at a Goodwill store in Placentia on Tuesday, October 9, 2018 after an elderly motorist lost control of her white Chevy Suburban and it crashed into a parked with a parked GMC Yukon pushing both SUVs through the glass windows of the storefront. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

  • A GMC Yukon remains inside a Goodwill store in Placentia on Tuesday, October 9, 2018 a white Chevy Suburban that crashed into it was removed. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

  • The scene inside a Goodwill store in Placentia on Tuesday, October 9, 2018 after an elderly motorist lost control of her white Chevy Suburban, left, and it crashed into a parked GMC Yukon, right, pushing both SUVs through the glass windows of the storefront. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

of

Expand

He said the Suburban may have accelerated after the initial impact, sending both SUVs traveling more than 10 feet, over a curb and through the storefront’s glass windows.

“She went to park in a parking space and her foot slipped off the brake and onto the gas, and it was ‘Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride’ from there,” said David William Collins, a passenger who was in the Suburban during the collision who referred to an amusement park ride.

Paramedics transported the woman to UC Irvine Medical Center with minor trauma and she is expected to survive her injuries, said  Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Tony Bommarito. He said a 14-year-old passenger in the Yukon during the collision and three others who were in the store were treated for minor injuries at the scene and later released.

Photos posted to the police department’s Twitter account show a Yukon with dents and scrapes along its entire passenger side parked beneath the fluorescent lights of the Goodwill’s sales floor. Merchandise and shattered glass littered the ground, and an older model Suburban is seen with its front end poking through the remnants of the storefront’s windows.