Gas station becomes a drive-in temporarily
Published 7:00 pm Thursday, April 18, 2013
A Lawrence County man hunting a parking space at a local gas station Thursday morning drove up over a curb and into a store window.
Thomas Nathaniel Kimble, 58, of N.A. Sandifer Highway, told law enforcement he was pulling into a parking space at the Highway 84 Chevron station in Lincoln County about 7:40 a.m. when his throttle became stuck, said Sheriff Steve Rushing.
Kimble, driving a 2001 Ford F-150, then drove up over the curb and hit a plate glass window at the front of the store, the sheriff said.
The truck did not actually enter the store but stopped at a ledge underneath the window; however, about 12 feet of plate glass was broken.
Store manager Patricia Wallace didn’t directly witness the collision, but it got her attention pretty easily.
“I was in the kitchen at the time, and I heard a boom,” Wallace said. “When I came out, there was glass all over the floor.”
The sheriff said damage to the truck was very minimal and there appeared to be no structural damage to the convenience store aside from the broken window.
“We’re glad no one was injured,” Rushing said.
No ticket was issued at the scene, and the case remains under investigation.