Maybe an errant driver hit the gas instead of the brake…perhaps there was a medical issue…or maybe they forgot that this was the St. Joseph Dunkin' Donuts and not the Stevensville version where they do have a drive thru window. Now, unfortunately, the St. Joseph store also has a drive-thru, although clerks prefer that you walk up and leave your car in the parking lot.
Somebody looking to grab a late breakfast or maybe an early lunch crashed through the plate-glass window at Dunkin' Donuts at 2731 Niles Avenue in the Southtown St. Joseph neighborhood right around 11:30am this morning. Fortunately nobody in the car was hurt, and nobody inside the building was injured either.
St. Joseph Police and Firefighters arrived on the scene to find a large Chevrolet SUV — a Traverse — had invaded the dining room portion of the combination Dunkin' Donuts-Baskin Robbins facility. It was probably the best possible place for the vehicle to hit out of all the possibilities, because a few feet to the right and the vehicle would have hit a much more solid part of the structure containing the front door systems…and a few feet to the left and it would have taken out a large refrigerated case and/or the entire cashier counter system.
It appears that the majority of the damage was done to the plate glass windows and maybe a few tables and chairs. The vehicle does not appear to have entered the building deeply enough to impact the ice cream cases a few feet away.
There was no immediate indication of what caused the crash, which remains under investigation. No word on any charges against the unidentified driver, either.
Photo credit goes to Mid-West Family Broadcasting Account Executive John Jay.
