Car Slams Into Ft. Lauderdale Dry Cleaners
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FT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) – Several people were injured after a car slammed into a business in Fort Lauderdale.
Fort Lauderdale Police said the driver was an 85-year-old man with a medical condition and because of that they do not expect to cite him or file charges.
The owner of store said that driver was a regular customer who had heart problems.
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One victim described some terrifying moments.
"We were inside the store when we heard a boom," said Cheripin Charite. "We heard a boom. I didn't know what was happening. When I looked I saw a car inside and I didn't know how it got there."
Charite told CBS4's Peter D'Oench, "When this happened, my head kept banging. I tried to get out but I was hitting the side back and forth. Then I pushed back."
The accident happened just before 9 a.m. in a strip mall in the 700 block of SE 17th Street. The driver of a Cadillac SUV lost controlled, plowed through the glass front of a Dryclean USA location and then slammed through the adjoining wall of a Greek restaurant.
Store owner Sisnaraine Singh told D'Oench that his 45-year-old son was working inside the store and has his shoulder dislocated but "he's going to be ok."
"Nothing like this has ever happened before to me," he said. "Nothing like this before. I didn't expect something like this to happen. The truck went half way through the store. The guy was a customer. He was a good customer."
Singh said he had insurance to cover the damages and hoped to reopen soon.
"I feel bad for the people," customer Alan Bernard.
Chopper4 over the scene spotted Ft. Lauderdale Fire Rescue taking two people, a man and a woman, out of the store on stretchers.
Fire rescue personnel also had to free the driver who was trapped in the SUV.
"There were still two people that were still within the vehicle. One person was trapped and two people in the store needed assistance getting out," Ft. Lauderdale Fire Recue Deputy Chief Timothy Heiser.
A total of seven people were injured, one seriously.
"They're very nice people, I feel sorry to hear what happened to them," said Bernard.