Car plows into UPS Store

PALMER — The UPS Store in Palmer has a lot of cleaning up to do after police say a car smashed through the storefront Sunday, coming to rest with its front bumper where the service counter used to be.

According to a Palmer Police Department press release, the wreck happened Sunday at about 1:50 p.m. The driver, Lynnette Lorraine Stouff, 62, of Palmer, was not hurt.

Her 2004 Acura MDX didn’t fare as well — it sustained about $8,000 damage. But the big-ticket damage from the accident was dealt to the store, whose owner, police say, estimated repair costs of at least $40,000.

But it could have been worse, said officer Luke Szipszky with the Palmer Police Department. The car missed — if only just barely — the masonry that supports the front of the building.

“It looks like she didn’t damage any of the framework of the building, just the stuff they put up to hold the glass there,” Szipszky said. “Two copiers got damaged and the mailboxes.”

Szipszky said the driver told him she was heading to a neighboring tanning salon.

“She put her foot on the brake to stop and instead of the brake she pushed on the gas pedal,” Szipszky said.

Stouff told him that in the split second it took her to react and push down on the correct pedal, the car crashed through the store, but she got it stopped as soon as she was able.

Luckily, Szipszky said, the store was closed at the time.

“It happened right around 1:50 in the afternoon. If it had been today at 1:50 in the afternoon we more than likely could have had some serious injuries,” he said Monday.

And, as far as police can determine, there wasn’t anything criminal going on. Stouff wasn’t charged with any crime. It’s now up to the parties involved to reach a resolution.

“From our point of view, it basically turns into a damaged property report,” he said. “She has insurance and they’re going to work it out with the insurance company.”

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.