No one was injured when a man drove a van into the Payless ShoeSource store, 1003 W. Gannon Drive, Festus, Wednesday afternoon (Dec. 23), authorities report.
Emergency personnel responded to a call on the accident at 2:32 p.m., Festus Fire Department Capt. Steve Eisenhauer said.
Cpl. Kevin Bloodworth of the Festus Police reported the driver, Herschel Holt, 79. of the Festus area was driving a 1985 GMC Vandura.
"He pulled into the lot on the north end and accelerated, jumped the curb and went into the store," Bloodworth said. "Two employees saw the van accelerating and ducked for cover. There were no customers inside I'm aware of."
Bloodworth said Holt was not ticketed after police determined it to be an accident.
Eisenhauer said the driver reported a problem with the van.
“He said the accelerator got stuck as he pulled into the space (in front of the store),” Eisenhauer said. “There’s not really any damage to the van.”
He said the fire department focused on the structural integrity of the building.
“We called the building inspector and they came out and said it was fine and they could open up when they got it boarded up.”
The crash appeared to have shattered a large area of floor-to-ceiling glass.
Store manager Tim Wymore described the driver as “an elder gentlemen.” Wymore said the store was boarded up within a few hours of the accident, but remained closed the rest of the day.
“We reopened this morning,” he said today (Dec. 24). “I wasn’t here when it happened. I’m just happy no one was hurt.”