'It's Just Shocking': Injured Borics Stylists, Customers Face Long Road To Recovery
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BRENTWOOD (KDKA) -- From the Borics Hair Care awnings to the ground, plywood covers the entire front of the salon.
At seven o'clock Tuesday night, Borics was a busy place when a late-model Chrysler crushed through the front of the store and rampaged to the back wall unabated.
"I think it went straight in. There was no stopping, no nothing," says Brentwood Emergency Management Coordinator John Balkovec.
The car took out the side of the store where all the service chairs are located, and many were filled. The why is in the hands of the police, but the shock is universally shared.
"It's very heartbreaking, " says Dana Hansen, who is a Borics customer.
Four customers were hurt, including a 15-year-old girl and her mother who are both in critical condition with fractured legs and head injuries. Two other customers are in fair condition.
KDKA's John Shumway Reports:
Stylist Kristi Rae Keener's mother-in-law put out the word on Facebook that she had been injured and the prayers flooded in. Linda Carrington says Kristie has a broken leg, a broken back, two broken ribs, head and facial injuries.
Kristi cuts Ryan Smoot's hair.
"It's tough, man. I know she's got two kids and somebody with lots of ambitions, young, she didn't deserve that. None of these people deserve that," Smoot said.
Stylist Hollie Rocco's friends have started a GoFundMe page to help with her medical bills. The page says the South Park woman's spleen is bleeding internally, she has three fractured vertebrae, two broken ribs, and lots of cuts and bruises.
Rocco is married, and she and her husband have a little girl.
Her husband, Dave, told KDKA-TV, "She still has bleeding on the spleen, three fractured vertebrae, two broken ribs and a cut on her head that they have to staple shut. The spleen is the biggest issue. She doesn't remember a whole lot of it. Basically, she was at one point of the salon, reached for something, then, all of a sudden, she was in the back and was under debris from the store digging herself out."
She remains in the ICU Unit at UPMC Mercy Hospital.
"The girls in here, and the hairdresser we go to, we are very close to them, " said customer Lorraine Smoot. "They are very nice and very kind, and it's just shocking. We are very sad."
Allegheny County Police say the driver was treated for minor injuries and is under investigation. Test will be done on his car, blood test are out for analysis, as well as medical records, and security videos will be reviewed before "a determination will be made as to what charges will be filed."
KDKA has learned the driver's identity.
Kevin Kiely, 58, lives by himself in a home in Baldwin Borough. Neighbors say he's lived in the home for decades. KDKA-TV's Ralph Iannotti went to the house Wednesday evening, but no one answered the door. His home is a couple of miles away from Brentwood Towne Square.
While no charges have been filed against Kiely stemming from the crash, court documents say Kiely was arrested last month by Baldwin Police on DUI and careless driving charges. His vehicle struck several parked cars near his home.
Wendy Wrubleski lives in the house next door to Kiely. His only visitors she's ever seen was the pizza delivery guy and the mailman. She said she's praying for all the victims of the crash, and for Kiely as well.
"He's a quiet guy, nobody would say anything bad about him. He doesn't bother anybody," Wrubleski said. "He just keeps to himself, we gotta keep checking on him. He doesn't come out very often. He lives all alone."
She said she knew it was his car involved in the hair salon crash when she saw the news on TV.
"Because he had a red Charger, and he just got it within the past month, and it stood out," she said.
For now, investigators say in a release, "There is no indication that this event was anything other than a medical- or alcohol-related incident."
Test results are not expected back until sometime next week.