KYLE MURPHYStaff Writer

Local grocery Lighthouse Grocery Outlet was able to open right on time Thursday after a vehicle crashed into the store the previous evening.

“I was going to youth group at church and I got a phone call that someone drove through the building,” owner Steve Petersheim said. “I went up there to check it out and, sure enough, [the driver] had come at full speed.”

Petersheim said from the surveillance cameras, it appeared that the driver was going about 60 mph when he went off the road and launched off from the corner of New Rock Creek Road to fly across into the store’s parking lot and “buried the vehicle into the building.” The surveillance camera showed the driver being able to get out of the car and walk around without injury.

“It’s incredible that he wasn’t hurt seriously and we were closed,” Petersheim said.

Petersheim said there was one employee in the store when it happened, but they were not near the front of the store when the crash occurred. According to Petersheim, the store manager was the first to arrive, as she was already heading to the store, and by the time he arrived the driver was already apprehended and taken into custody and both the police and fire departments were clearing up the scene.

After accessing the damage, Petersheim contacted his friends and family and they soon began cleaning up the damage, where he mentioned his contractor friend was able to go to Lowe’s just before it closed to purchase the necessary materials. He said when the Fire Chief told him they will need to have a codes inspection and the Fire Marshal will need to inspect the building before they can open again, his reaction was to “they need to get this cleaned up fast,” and was to get everything cleaned up by midnight. 

“It was quite a crew of people, it was an impressive team effort in my opinion.”

Petersheim added he was grateful for the city for being accommodating as they were able to get all the departments to the store Thursday morning to conduct inspections just before the store opened at 9 a.m. He said he is using Allied Contractors to contract with all the repairs and feels competent the store will be fixed up in no time.

Petersheim said he wanted thank everyone in the community for the help and support he has received and felt grateful to be a part of the community.

“I feel really grateful for the support that we felt from the community and it really impacted me to see how quick everything is cleaned up, reset and everybody just pulling together was a real blessing.”