Starbucks workers, first responders grateful no one was hurt when car crashed into store
NEW PHILADELPHIA – That nobody was hurt Monday morning when a car crashed into the usually-busy Starbucks on Blue Bell Drive is a minor miracle.
Police say a 75-year-old local woman accidentally put her car in drive instead of reverse and accelerated through the glass front doors and windows of the Blue Bell Drive Starbucks around 9:45 a.m.
New Philadelphia Fire Captain Robert Snyder was one of the first responders on the scene.
“It wasn’t anything medical reported or anything like that,” he said. “It was just an accident, 100 percent an accident. Nobody did anything intentional.”
Store Manager Tenton Ohler was among the shocked Starbucks employees in the store when it happened. He said with a different angle or a little more force, someone from his crew behind the counter could have been hit. Instead, the sedan came to a stop in an empty lobby.
“It’s so unusual that nobody was right there,” he said. “If it would have been yesterday instead of today that would have been a mass casualty [incident] instead of just somebody crashed into my building.”
Ohler said he was not sure when the store could reopen, “but I think it’ll take a toll. This is a really busy place, and a lot of people come here.”
He says the building is still structurally sound, so the repair is just replacing the doors and glass.
The driver of the car needed help getting out, but she was OK.