SALEM, MASS. (WHDH) - A driver recently explained what happened that led her to crash into a Salem pet grooming business one day after surveillance video showed the crash on Tuesday afternoon.
SKY7-HD was over the scene off Boston Street around 5:15 p.m. Tuesday, where people had been seen carrying their dogs out of the impacted business.
On the ground, video showed a blue car pulling into a parking space before jumping the curb and going straight into the store.
“I wanted to move a little bit closer and all of a sudden I saw my car going forward,” said Shirley Beauvais Riley. “So, I got nervous and I tried to find the brake and it went right through the store.”
Riley, 85, said she was at the wheel with her sister-in-law in the passenger seat.
“I was just saying ‘When is this car gonna stop?’ And it stopped right in the middle,” Riley said.
Riley was going to pick up her Shih Tzu, “Rocky,” after he was groomed at “Laundro-Mutt.” She told police she stepped on the gas instead of the brake.
Linda Jackson, who lives above the crash site, said she heard a loud noise and felt a jolt but didn’t have any major impacts.
“Thankfully no structural damage,” Jackson said.
While those living in the area said their apartments are okay, video showed the car smashing the front window of Laundro-Mutt itself, filling the space with broken glass.
Inside the store was the business owner and five pets, including Riley’s “Rocky” trapped in a cage behind the business counter, according to police.
Emergency crews said no one was hurt. Many displays and countertops were destroyed, though. And a water pipe was broken.
As for Riley, she said she is relieved everyone is safe and said this incident was just a terrible accident.
“I’ve heard so many people have done that before and I’ve said ‘Oh my God, I’d never do that. How could they do it?’ Right?” she said. “And I did it.”
Laundro-Mutt was closed, with its window boarded up on Wednesday.
While police said they don’t plan to charge or ticket Riley, officials said they have been in touch with the RMV to revoke her license, calling her an immediate threat.
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