The call came in to 911 at 11:45 Tuesday evening as an explosion. That is, after all, what it sounded like to witnesses.
When New Baltimore police responded to Richards Auto Parts, they found the scene of a crash. The driver responsible was walking in the parking lot. She was covered in auto body paint. Police say she appeared drunk.
Her car had slammed through one wall all the way into the store, knocking out the wall on the other side of the building.
The owners of the business arrived just after she was rushed to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
“I was holding back tears. It is our business. It is our life,” said Tristan Simon.
Simon’s family has owned Richards Auto Parts for 3 generations. He says he just keeps thinking about what could have happened if the crash had happened earlier in the day.
The car crashed into the wall where workers are often helping customers pick out paint for their car.
“If one of us had been there getting paint, we would have been dead, gone,” said Tristan.
Richards Auto Parts will stay open as repairs are made to the business. Tristan says the owners want to be there for their customers.
