[1]“Witnesses said they heard ‘bang, revving, bang, revving, then a crash’.” – Officer Buster. / Courtesy photo by Andy Jacaway
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
An elderly driver accidentally rammed a building three times yesterday before the front end of his Cadillac broke through an exterior wall scattering shoppers at the VF Factory Outlet in Centralia.
Nobody was injured, even though it was a fairly busy day, according to Centralia Police Department Sgt. Carl Buster.
The Longview man, 90, and his wife were still sitting in the vehicle when police arrived, with the nose of the sedan inside the store, according to police.
“It was fortunate, not a single person got hurt,” Buster said.
Police were called about 2:15 p.m. to the 100 block of High Street, just east of Interstate 5.
The couple had finished shopping and were exiting a parking spot in front of the store, Buster said.
Witnesses outside told police the car backed up, struck a vehicle behind it, shoving it into a second vehicle and then the man put his car in drive and went forward, jumping over the curb and hitting the building, according to Buster.
Witnesses said the engine was revved up really high, Buster said.
“One witness said the guy backed up four or five feet and then hits the building a second time,” Buster said. “He backs up for a third time, and this time he goes through the wall like two feet into the store.”
People inside the store were crying, saying they had no idea what was happening, Buster said.
Sarah Cain said it seemed as though an angry customer had decided to ram the building on purpose, and she watched as items tumbled off a nearby shelf.
It sounded like a bomb going off, Cain said. She estimated there were about 50 customers inside.
“By the third time, people were running out of the building screaming,” she said.
The damage to the Cadillac was surprisingly minimal, but it left a hole in the stucco wall about the size of the hood of a car, Buster said.
The car was towed though, because it lost some fluids, he said.
Officers decided not to ticket the man because it was on private property and there was no criminality involved.
“He said, ‘That car is so quiet and sound proof; I couldn’t hear the engine revving’,” Buster said. “He thought he was pushing the brake.”
[2]Damage to the car was minimal. “It would have been a great Cadillac commercial.” – Officer Buster. / Courtesy photo by Megan Wilber