When an alarm recently sounded at Arnold EyeCare Center, the doctors didn’t find a crime scene. Instead, they discovered that a deer had crashed through a window, knocked over an eyeglass stand and a chair, attempted to get out by shattering a second window and finally escaped after jumping through a third.
The deer crashed through Arnold EyeCare Center, 1235 Water Tower Place, a little before 6 p.m. Friday, May 10. The office was closed, so no one was inside when the deer paid its visit.
Mary Beth Scaglione, office manager, speculated that the deer saw its reflection in the window and thought it was going to find another deer inside.
“We’re very lucky,” Scaglione said. “It only damaged one of our frames, one stand and a chair. Aside from the glass cleanup and a little bit of hair cleanup, there really wasn’t that much damage. If it had gone down the hall and damaged the equipment, it would have been much worse. And it was after hours, so no one was hurt.”
Witnesses at a neighboring business, Rent to Own, said they heard a loud crash, ran outside to see what it was and saw the deer running out of the eye care office, Scaglione said.
Dr. Jerri Birsinger, an eye doctor at Arnold EyeCare Center, and her family were the first on the scene, after getting a call from the security company, and cleaned up most of the damage.
A property management team arrived shortly after the Birsingers and boarded up the windows. Scaglione reported that the center did not lose any business due to the incident and the windows should be replaced soon.
Witnesses said the deer’s legs were broken and it didn’t run far after exiting the office, just making it around the corner of the parking lot, near Papa John’s Pizza, where police were forced to put down the injured deer, Scaglione said.
The center hasn’t experienced anything like this in its 40-plus years of business, Scaglione said.
“People are coming in and asking, ‘Did somebody break in?’ ” Scaglione said. “I tell them, ‘No person tried to break in; a deer tried to break in!’ It’s unbelievable.”
Birsinger and Dr. Diane Wilson own and operate the business. Also, Dr. Carrie Riley practices with them at the office.
--Ashley Reese
