For the second time in less than a week, someone crashed an SUV into a Gainesville business.
On Wednesday, a Kia rammed into Wise’s Pharmacy on Southwest Fourth Avenue. Six days earlier, a Chevrolet drove through the front of a Campus USA Credit Union.
At about 3:30 p.m., Linda J. Knight-Baker, 56, plowed into the front of the small pharmacy, driving through bricks, glass and wooden shelves.
As she pulled into the parking lot, Knight-Baker accidentally accelerated, Gainesville Police spokesman Officer Ben Tobias wrote in an email.
No injuries occurred, but the store was left with a gaping hole that revealed shelves of pill bottles and hand lotions. A sign by the front door said it opened in 1938.
Keith Bennett, a building inspector with the City of Gainesville, said the crash did not cause any structural damage. Inside the pharmacy, employees and the pharmacy owner were still in shock.
“She just drove through,” employee Sheila Ingle said.
Dorian Thrailkill, a patron of the pharmacy for more than 25 years, walked past the debris and held her dog, Poppy.
“Oh, dear,” she said.
Thrailkill said Wednesday reminded her of Brown’s Pharmacy in Selma, Alabama, which suffered a similar fate.
“They had a beautiful storefront with lovely gift items out front, and somebody drove through the plate-glass window,” she said.
After a short wait, Ingle brought Thrailkill her prescription.
“I’m just so thankful no one inside was harmed,” Thrailkill said.
Contact Martin Vassolo at mvassolo@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @martindvassolo.
Pictured is the remaining damage to Wise’s Pharmacy storefront on Southwest 4th Avenue after a vehicle drove through the building. No one was hurt during the incident.
