Herb Sigg’s Iola Auto Parts store was added Thursday to a peculiar bit of Iola history, in that the building is now on a growing list in town that have been struck by vehicles.
Thursday’s accident happened when the driver of a white Ford Taurus apparently hit the accelerator instead of the brake, causing the vehicle to slam its way through a front window shortly after noon.
“Scared the tar out of us,” Sigg said. “We heard what sounded like an explosion, and we didn’t know what it was. Then we heard the squealing tires, and we knew immediately.”
The driver, whose name will not be released by the Iola Police Department until the accident report is filed, was not injured, nor was anyone inside the auto parts store at 201 S. State St.
“We’re fortunate in that nobody was hurt,” Sigg said.
Crews immediately began cleaning up the mess, which included several gallons of paint. The shelves holding the paint were knocked forward about four feet into another group of displays.
By the end of the afternoon, the paint was cleaned and crews had covered with wood the gaping hole where the window once was.
Had the car been three feet to the south, it would have likely damaged a load-bearing beam. As it was, the only structural damage “was the glass and some tin,” Sigg said.
Brandon Burton of Moran was standing in the parking lot, barely more than a foot away from the car, when it slammed into the wall.
“I’m glad I reached back inside (my car) to grab my wallet,” Burton said. “That could have been me in front of him.”
The accident marked at least six times in the past 11 months that drivers have mistakenly run into the sides of stationary objects in the Iola area, including the Colony post office and R & R Sales on East Street, Dollar Daze on South State Street, and the curious case in which the owners of B & B Cafe had cars run into the sides of the restaurant, then their home in accidents about a month apart.
Auto parts store hit by car
