Dollar Tree employee injured after car crashes into building in Whiting
Manchester Police say an employee at the Dollar Tree store on Lacey Road in Whiting was brought to Community Medical Center Thursday for an evaluation of non-life threatening injuries after a car crashed into the building.
Police arrived around 1:07 p.m. for a report of a vehicle which had crashed into the building and the saw a 2012 Lexus which had impacted the side of the building.
Investigators say that prior the crash, the Lexus had been stopped in a handicapped parking space on the south side of the building with the vehicle’s engine in drive and running.
While waiting for the driver’s acquaintance to return from the store, the vehicle accelerated forward, causing it to ride up the concrete curb and come to rest after colliding into the brick wall of the building.
The collision caused extensive damage to the structure.
A cashier who had been inside the store at the time sustained a neck injury while trying to avoid a shelf which had been forced from the wall.
The cashier was transported to Community Medical Center for evaluation of non-life threatening injuries.
The driver of the vehicle, 71-year-old John R Dzitko Jr. of Whiting, was the single occupant inside the Lexus and was not injured.
The Manchester building inspector responded and determined that the store had to be closed due to the integrity of the structure being significantly compromised.
This crash is being investigated by Patrolman Stephen Hankins of the Manchester Township Police Department Patrol Bureau.
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