Driver hits store, customer...

[K A I N]

http://www.southbendtribune.com/assets/wmv/SB5863414.WMV

Look at the lady and dude in the store  The chick is hilarious.


Driver hits store, customer
60-year-old female victim transported to hospital.


ALICIA GALLEGOS
Tribune Staff Writer

SOUTH BEND -- The afternoon was sunny and the door was open at Bill's Liquor Store Friday, as clerk Donna Freeman and a customer walked back inside after dropping off beer at the customer's vehicle.

Seconds later, a blue pickup truck slammed into the door behind them, hurling the customer onto the truck's hood and sending pieces of door frame flying.

"I was screaming," Freeman said. "It was loud."

Freeman turned around in time to see her customer sandwiched between the truck and the store and then slide off onto floor. She and another customer rushed to the victim's aid and paramedics arrived shortly afterwards.

Police at the scene said the 58-year-old female driver was apparently pulling into the lot at 3626 E. Jefferson Blvd., when she accidentally hit her gas pedal instead of her brakes.

"There was a lady unfortunately standing in front of the door," said Cpl. Anthony Scott.

Nancy Smith, 60, of South Bend, was placed on a stretcher and transported to an area hospital, where she was in stable condition late Friday night. Her injuries did not appear to be life-threatening, Scott said, and she was conscious and alert after the accident.

The driver, Martha Day, 58, of Mishawaka, was unhurt in the crash. She declined to comment at the scene.

"She was more embarrassed than anything," Scott said.

Freeman, who has been a store employee for 11 years, was shaken up after the crash, but she remained at work, helping with cleanup.

Video surveillance tape showed the clerk came within a foot of the crash.

It could have easily been Freeman who was hit instead of the customer, she said.

Owner Bill Marzotto rushed to the east-side liquor store after hearing about the accident.

It wasn't clear just how much damage was done, he said, but the store's glass door itself would be $800 to replace.

Marzotto said this wasn't the first time a vehicle ran into the liquor store.

About three years ago a male driver with no insurance struck the building. No one was injured that time, however, Marzotto said.

Alcohol was not a factor in the crash, according to police.

The driver was able to back out of the space after receiving a citation.


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