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Car crashes into store, no one injured

By Laura Chapman, The Southern

Friday, May 16, 2008 11:08 AM CDT

CARBONDALE -Francis Murphy, general manager at the Neighborhood Co-op grocery at Murdale Shopping Center, got an unwanted call Thursday morning from the store's office manager while driving to the store.

A car had just driven into the front of the store, shattering a window in front of the lunch counter and damaging other property on the store's front patio.

"I rushed over here fearing the worst," he said.

After reaching the store, Murphy relaxed a little. No one, including the driver, was injured.

Although no one was standing in front of the store at the time of the accident, people were sitting at the lunch counter, Murphy said. These customers, however, were able to get away from the window before the shattered glass reached them.

The car's driver, Patricia Thomasson of Carbondale, said she accidentally drove her car onto the store's patio when her leg cramped up while she was driving in the store's parking lot, preventing her from moving her foot from the accelerator to the brake in time.

Thomasson said she had just returned from the store to her car to look for a $100 bill that she'd discovered was missing while checking out and was feeling a bit panicked. When she drove up to the store, her leg cramped up while on the accelerator and she couldn't stop.

Aside from feeling a bit shaken up after the accident, she wasn't hurt in the accident.

"I feel kind of crazy," Thomasson said as she watched a tow truck remove her car from the patio.

The accident report was not complete as of Thursday, said Carbondale police officer Randy Mathis.

Less than an hour after the crash, store employees were sweeping glass up from around the lunch counter and cleaning up the patio, which was covered with dirt and yellow pansies spilled out from the broken planter.

Although the large planter was a little pricey, Murphy was glad it was there to slow down the car with its impact. He did not yet have an estimated total for damages.

"It's quite a rough morning for every one," he said.

laura.chapman@thesouthern.com  

351-5816