Woman Crashes Into Building; Small Child Onboard

A woman driving with a small child in the back seat of the vehicle crashed into the Wine & Spirit/Quick Mart building on 83 Godwin Avenue early Wednesday afternoon, causing significant damage to the building and sending the woman and child to the hospital.

Presumably attempting to hit the break pedal in an effort to park in a space, the woman instead hit the accelerator, shooting the Land Rover SUV into the structure, breaking a structural column and bricks of the wall a few feet behind the column. The vehicle sustained front-end damage and was towed away from the scene at roughly 12:40.

The small child onboard, witnesses reported, and was strapped into a child seat in the back row of the SUV. One witness told Patch that they overheard the driver report arm injuries to on-scene personnel but "didn't care" about her own injuries, and instead was only concerned for the well-being of her child. The condition of both individuals is unknown, though they were taken to the hospital.

The force of the crash was so great that, according to witnesses inside the building at the time, the windows shook and there are large cracks in the exterior wall of the building. A computer near the wall was also knocked over due to the crash.

Building owner EJ Ferraro said he would have the mess cleaned up, which contained a heavy chunk of displaced bricks on the sidewalk along with dirt and debris from the accident. Ferraro would be having representatives from their insurance company assess the damage, hopefully later that day, he said. They don't expect to close the store, Wine and Spirit owner Rina Desai said.

The police could not comment on the incident, as the matter is still under investigation.