Festus Police have identified the man who drove his van into the Payless ShoeSource store in Festus on Wednesday (Dec. 23) as Herschel Holt, 79, of the Festus area.
No one was injured in the incident, authorities report.
Festus Police Cpl. Kevin Bloodworth said Holt was driving a 1985 GMC Vandura.
Emergency personnel responded to a call on the accident at 2:32 p.m., Festus Fire Department Capt. Steve Eisenhauer said.
“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 at the front of the store, 1003 W. Gannon Drive.
Store manager Tim 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.”