A car plowed into a grocery store Monday evening in Swampscott, Massachusetts, leaving a gaping hole very close to the front entrance.
Swampscott police confirmed they responded to the Stop & Shop on Paradise Road for a crash after a car hopped the curb and rammed through the front side of the store.
Swampscott's fire chief told NBC10 Boston that the driver, an elderly man, was the only one inside the vehicle at the time of the crash. He suffered minor injuries and was taken to Salem Hospital for evaluation. No other injuries were reported.
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The store front's brick wall was knocked down, and the vehicle wound up in an area for Peapod deliveries. The fire chief said the room was totally destroyed, but they are fortunate no one was inside the room at the time of the crash as it's typically a very busy part of the store.
“There’s a door to what looks like a storage room that’s broken down, there's a wall that’s broken but I didn’t see a car. It just looked like a mess,” one woman told NBC10 Boston of what she saw at Stop & Shop.
Aerial footage shows the damage to the building, as well as several parked cars outside the store. Multiple fire trucks and police officers were seen, with yellow police tape blocking off a portion of the parking lot.
Local
It was a close call that no one saw coming and is a little disconcerting.
“I saw the helicopters and I assumed something was up and somebody said a car went through the building," Alan Goldstein said.
“It’s kind of scary though, somebody could be standing there, and it wouldn’t be pretty at all,” Jimoh Oroiakhi said. "I'm glad nobody got injured."
The car was towed out while crews worked Monday night to try and board up the giant hole.
Police are investigating how the man ended up driving into the store. NBC10 Boston asked police if speed was a factor in the crash, and they said that is still under investigation.
The investigation is active and ongoing.
