A 45-year-old woman was taken to the hospital after a pickup truck careened into the storefront of a convenience store in Northwest Miami-Dade.
The incident took place at a Kwik Stop at Northwest 111st Street and Seventh Avenue on Tuesday night.
Surveillance video obtained by 7News captures the truck smashing through the front of the building, which had at least five people inside at the moment of impact, knocking shelves to the ground.
“And goes all the way. All the way inside my store!” said H, the store’s owner.
The injured woman’s husband, J, said that he was with his wife and two cousins in the front of the store when the truck came crashing through the business.
“All of a sudden — I was on my phone — I heard like ‘bam!’ So I thought it was like the thunder,” said J.
Jean, the driver of the truck, told 7News he accidentally put the vehicle into drive instead of reverse while trying to leave the parking lot.
“When I tried to back up, the car [flipped up],” he said.
“When you tried to back up? So maybe you had thought it was in reverse, but it was in drive?” said 7News reporter Sheldon Fox.
“Yeah,” said the driver.
“Not only I was deaf, ’cause [of] the loud bang, I was confused, and I’m seeing a lot of smoke inside of the place, and I hear like ‘whrrrrr,’ so the tire was still running,” said J.
J said that he then found his wife on the floor.
“She was screaming for help, she was screaming, she’s telling me, ‘Please call 911, call 911,’” he said.
7News learned that the woman was struck by a video poker machine that fell to the ground when the crash occurred.
Surveillance video captured Miami-Dade Fire Rescue paramedics bringing out the injured victim on a stretcher. They quickly transported her to an area hospital, and J said that he was headed over there to be by her side.
The truck’s driver said he was not hurt, and there was no one else inside the vehicle. He showed the path of destruction left inside the store, with several smashed bottles, merchandise and destroyed shelves.
“And all of those shelves right there — one, two, three, four — he damaged the four shelves, and he damaged everything,” said H.
After meeting with Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office deputies, the driver was told he was free to go.
Now, as the victim’s family is with their loved one at the hospital, the store’s owner is left to pick up the pieces.
“Big loss,” H said.
The woman’s injuries were not life-threatening, according to J.
The store remained open as of late Tuesday night as the cleanup process continued. It was back open on Wednesday, but there was still a big mess inside.
In total, H said, the crash has caused close to $40,000 worth of damage.
MDSO officials said the driver of the truck was issued a citation for careless driving.
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Source: Wsvn
