No serious injuries after van crashes into Palmer Senior Center

PALMER — A Ford van punched a hole in the Palmer Senior Center’s wall late Monday afternoon.

Police, rescue crews and medics were called to the facility on South Chugach Street about 3:30 p.m.

Palmer Police Officer Edward Mooney said it appeared the driver of the van mixed up the gas and brake pedals.

“To my understanding, he accidentally misjudged on the pedals and drove it into the building,” Mooney said. “It doesn’t seem to be an under-the-influence situation.”

Nor does it appear, Mooney said, as if the driver drove into the building deliberately.

The van — a blue Ford Aerostar with a Palmer Senior Center placard on the driver’s door — drove up on a small patch of grass to the left of the center’s front door and through some lawn furniture before striking the senior center with its right front corner.

The right headlight and part of its fender and hood were inside the wall when crews arrived.

On its way to hitting the building, the van clipped one man who was outside the center. Mooney said both the driver and the man he hit were sent to Mat-Su Regional Medical Center. Neither appeared to be seriously injured.

“It did not appear to be life-threatening,” Mooney said.

Mooney said Monday evening the case is still being investigated, but that so far it doesn’t look like charges will be filed. In cases like these, oftentimes it’s the insurance companies that handle the accident.

One of the things he still has to determine, Mooney said, is an estimate of how much damage the van did to the center. On scene, it appeared to be a relatively small hole; smaller, at least, than it could have been had the van made its way farther into the building.

Mooney said the investigation was slowed down after everyone on scene was called to Swanson Elementary School for a fire in an upstairs bathroom. And when reached shortly after 5 p.m. to talk about the case, he couldn’t speak long before he was pulled away to follow up on a different case. Monday was busy at the police department.

“It was pretty quiet earlier in the day,” Mooney said. “I hope it doesn’t go this way into the grave shift that relieves us in an hour.”

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