A teen driver’s slip of the foot caused her car to crash through the front of Books Galore, 411 W. Main Street, in Festus, this afternoon (April 12), breaking several windows. Neither the driver nor anyone inside the book store was hurt, authorities reported.
However, the driver, Camryn Tripp, 17, of Festus, was shaken up, Festus Fire Chief Kevin Cremer said
The accident happened at 1:34 p.m., when Tripp, driving a 1999 Ford Escort, arrived at the store to shop and accidently drove the car completely into the store.
“She was applying the brake and her foot slipped off the brake – that’s what she told me,” Cremer said. “The car was really not damaged.”
Once a tow truck removed the Escort from the store and one of the teen’s relatives arrived, the car was driven away from the scene. It was not clear, though, whether the relative or the teen drove away in the Escort.
Cremer said that even though the store's front windows were broken out, the building appeared to be sound.
“The building inspector is here. He’s deemed it structurally safe,” Cremer said.
Nevertheless, Books Galore owners John and Kendall Gilbert said today that they likely would remain closed the rest of the day and reopen Friday (April 13).
The Gilberts said it was lucky that neither they nor their customers were in the part of the store where the crash occurred.
“It sounded like a bomb blew up,” John Gilbert said. “We were in other parts of the store. I was helping a woman in Religion.
“A lady was browsing nearby,” Kendall Gilbert added. “She wasn’t hurt.”
The Gilberts said they were contacting insurance to see how best to proceed with repairs, but likely would board up the windows right away.
Tripp was not cited and no charges will be sought, Festus Police reported.