×

Drivers crash into two area businesses

Two drivers crashed into Blair County businesses during a three-hour period Thursday, leaving obvious damage but no serious injuries, police said.

A Claysburg discount store and a Roaring Spring restaurant were left with holes in their walls and a few frightened patrons.

About 9 a.m., a four-door Ford F-150 pickup truck slammed through the front entrance of the Claysburg Dollar General, Greenfield Township Police Chief Ron Givler said.

Givler’s phone rang, and “an excited clerk on the other end said, ‘We have a vehicle in our building,'” he recalled.

Givler said 34-year-old Misty Dawn Lingenfelter had parked in front of the store and left her truck running to keep the air conditioning cool. She opened the door without putting the pickup in park and then got a foot stuck between the pedals, he said.

The truck jumped a low concrete barrier and smashed through the Dollar General wall with Lingenfelter still inside, Givler said.

About six employees and customers were in the building, but none were hurt.

Police, Claysburg volunteer firefighters and AMED ambulance workers arrived and Givler said he helped Lingenfelter from the vehicle. The truck was towed and the store temporarily closed.

Givler said police might cite Lingenfelter for leaving her car engine on as she prepared to shop: According to state law, a parked car can’t be left running without the driver present.

Three hours after the Claysburg crash, a motorist slammed through a wall at the Spring House Grille in Roaring Spring, crashing into a booth full of customers but leaving them without major injuries, Roaring Spring Police Chief Milton Fields and owner Amy Ritchey said.

The driver, an elderly man whose license had been revoked for medical reasons, hasn’t been identified.

Fields said an off-duty officer heard the crash and called for help. The driver was shaken, Fields said, but unhurt.

The restaurant remained open for the day, with repairmen called to deal with smashed drywall and a hole in the outside wall, Ritchey said.

“There’s a pretty good amount of damage,” she said.

Mirror Staff Writer Ryan Brown is at 946-7457.

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

Starting at $4.39/week.

Subscribe Today