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  • Glendale: Woman drives SUV into bakery

    Glendale News Press
    March 15, 2005

    Woman drives SUV into bakery

    Patron pinned between SUV and counter. Three taken to hospital, but none of
    the injuries were life- threatening, police say.

    By Jackson Bell, News-Press and Leader

    SOUTHEAST GLENDALE -- A 30-year-old woman smashed her SUV through the Red
    Ribbon BakeShop Monday afternoon, pinning one of the customers against the
    counter, police and witnesses said.

    At about 3 p.m., a motorist, whose name was not released, drove her gray
    Toyota 4Runner over the sidewalk and into the Filipino bakery on East
    Colorado Street, Glendale Police Sgt. Tom Lorenz said.

    The driver of the SUV told police and patrons that she hit the accelerator
    instead of the brake by mistake as she pulled into the parking lot, Lorenz
    said.

    Glendale paramedics rushed two patrons -- a 40-year-old woman and
    13-year-old girl -- to local hospitals, Lorenz said. An employee was also
    taken to a hospital. None of the injuries were life-threatening, he said.
    The 40-year-old suffered two broken legs, police said.

    Teresa Moody had stopped by the Red Ribbon Bake Shop Monday afternoon for a
    quick snack in between running errands. She set her belongings on a table by
    the window and was waiting at the counter for her order when she heard a
    loud crash, followed by a woman's screams.

    She turned to see an SUV had crashed through the window and had pinned a
    woman to the counter with the table Moody had planned to sit at.

    "I could have been runover by the SUV," Moody said. "I was shaking and
    started saying, 'Oh my God.' Lucky, there were only a few of us at the
    store. The place is usually packed."

    Ofik Abarmyan was trimming a client's hair at California Cuts, a business in
    the same strip mall, when she heard the crash. When Abarmyan looked to see
    what happened, she said the driver was standing by her SUV, in a state of
    shock and unable to speak. The 40-year-old victim, she said, was wedged in
    the counter and unable to free herself.

    The teenage girl had cuts on her legs and the floor was bloody from all the
    glass cuts, she said.

    "I tried to give the little girl water, but she was so shaken up that she
    couldn't even drink it," Abarmyan said.

    The business next door, Lilac Florist, had damage to the window and
    refrigerators on the wall next to Red Ribbon, owner Sona Nazaryan said. The
    accident marks the third time in 14 years a car has crashed into the strip
    mall, Nazaryan said.

    "I'd like to see some barriers put up," she said. "It would be safer for us
    and the customers."

    * JACKSON BELL covers public safety and courts. He may be reached at (818)
    637-3232 or [email protected].
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