A driver in her 70s plowed into a Santa Clara shoe repair shop, and although her small SUV plunged deep into the store and ran over a customer, police say no one was seriously injured.
Santa Clara police Lt. Phil Cooke said the woman did not need to go to the hospital, and she was not cited for the incident.
Bill Faiss, owner of the Cobbler’s Bench Shoe & Luggage Repair on North Winchester Boulevard across the street from Westfield Valley Fair mall and near Santana Row, said there was one customer who was in the shop at 1:15 p.m. Tuesday when the vehicle rammed though windows.
Faiss said the customer was literally “run over,” and firefighters had to pull him out. Faiss said he learned the man was been treated and released from the hospital.
Faiss wasn’t there at the time of the crash, which “wiped out all the displays and furniture” inside. But he arrived about 45 minutes later and he said he spoke to the driver.
“She said that instead of stepping on the brakes, she stepped on the accelerator,” Faiss said, adding that crews boarded up the window and cleaned out the debris so he could be open for business today.
Cooke said the traffic investigator has determined nothing criminal occurred, but the driver may be asked to go to the Department of Motor Vehicles to determine if she is still fit to drive.
For Faiss, this was an unprecedented experience.
“No, this has never happened here before,” he said. “Once is enough.”
Contact Lisa Fernandez at 408-920-5002.
