Volkswagen crashes through store front (with photos)

Several make up store employees got a wake up call when a Volkswagen Beetle crashed through the front entrance of Merle Norman Cosmetics Studio at 1 p.m. Thursday afternoon.

The driver, 68-year-old Betty Bond of Milton, caused an estimated $3,000 in damage to the vehicle and another $12,000 worth of damage to the building according to Lt. Steve Preston with the Florida Highway Patrol.

“I thought we had been hit by lightning,” said Risa Hawkins a Merle Norman employee who was working near the back of the store when the car came through the front window.  “It happened in slow motion.”

No one inside the vehicle or inside the store was injured.  Three women were inside when the car drove into the showroom.

Pace Fire Department, the Santa Rosa County sheriffs and Florida Highway Patrol responded to the scene.

FHP headed the accident inquisition, which is currently still under investigation.

The main support beam to the doorframe was broken when the vehicle came through the window and the Pace Fire Department put up a temporary support to hold the frame up.

Brenda Lewis who co-owns the store with her husband Michael was not inside the store when the car went through the storefront.  She arrived after the car was backed out of the building.

“It was very shocking to hear this happen,” Lewis said. “You don’t hear about people running into buildings very often. 

“But I’m glad my employees are not injured.”

Brenda’s husband, an ESP contractor arrived shortly after his wife to assess the damage.

The business, which has been in the Nettlewood Plaza or 8 years now has been in the Pace area for nearly 10 years according to Brenda.

“The first thing I asked was ‘Is everyone ok?’” Lewis said.

Another employee who was working at a desk near the rear of the store had her back turned away from the window, but said she turned around just as the car was coming through the storefront.

“It didn’t look like she was parked or parking,” said Blair.  “She just kept coming.

“We had to tell her to take her foot off the gas because she kept driving once she came through the front.”

Blair said the driver told her she had been in a wreck on Wednesday and that the car was a rental.

The Volkswagen had a commercial license plate out of Louisiana.  Lt. Preston confirmed to the Press Gazette that the vehicle was a rental car.

 Hawkins said the impact from the Volkswagen caused the storefront window to shatter and the glass, she said, came into the store in a giant wave. 

Several items inside the store, including make up and jewelry displays were knocked over during the incident.

I saw it as it was coming through the window,” Hawkins said. “It shot glass everywhere.”

The Pace Volunteer Fire Department was able to cut the power off after the vehicle was backed out of the building.