An 80-year-old woman suffered minor injuries today when she drove her car into a retail center, hitting four parked cars in her path.
The crashed occurred at about 1:40 p.m. at 40484 Murrieta Hot Springs Road. The car ran into an exterior corner wall shared by a office and , near .
The woman had just filled up at the gas station and meant to make a left turn out of the station, according to Murrieta police Officer Jason Edmisten.
"She stepped on the brake and then she doesn't know what happened from that point, but based on the evidence that we see she pressed on the gas instead of the brake," Edmisten.
As she was propelled forward, she jumped a curb and hit a parked Range Rover and a Hyundai. The impact lurched the Hyundai across the lot, causing it to hit a parked Toyota Corolla, Edmisten told Patch.
"Then she ended up hitting the wall," he said.
Edmisten said nothing indicated the elderly driver was under the influence of any substances.
"But based on her telling me that she doesn't remember the incident or whether she pushed the gas or not, we are ordering the DMV evaluation," he said.
The woman, whose name was not given, refused medical treatment at first. After she began to complain of chest pain, paramedics returned and transported her to an area hospital to be evaluated.
The sudden accident caught the immediate attention of Mark Millard, manager of Plaza Dental Group. Millard said he was in the front office talking with his receptionist.
"The next thing I know I see a white car flash in front of us," Millard said.
Millard said he ran outside and pulled the woman from her car after seeing that the airbag had deployed.
The dental office was evacuated as a precaution, he said.
Three of the five cars involved were towed, including the woman's white Nissan Altima, Edmisten said.
Joel and Christina Cunningham were eating in Buffalo Wild Wings when they were notified their blue Hyundai was hit.
The couple and their baby had driven up to Murrieta from Escondido to have lunch with a friend, Joel said.
"Situations like this do occur, I just hope she is OK," Joel said.
A Murrieta building inspector was called in to evaluate the damage, and said it appeared to be mostly cosmetic.
No one was working in the Bank of America office at the time of the crash, officials said.
No other injuries were reported, said Murrieta fire Battalion Chief Steve Kean.
Officials were able to locate all the drivers nearby as well as talk to several witnesses.
All I care about is getting idiots off the road.... get off the road, Sue.
Sue, did you look at the photos attached to this article??? By, golly... there is a BIG, GIANT sign.... it reads... all together now!!! H&R BLOCK!!!!!!!
I think you are rude. This reporter/editor works hard on this site. She can only do so much, so please don't be rude. And in regards to "Three of the five cars involved were towed" people me honest mistakes. Look at yourself before talk negative about someone.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- And by the way I was informed yesterday, that two of my recent posts were removed from Murrieta Patch. Reason given was, they each were flagged as inappropriate (3 times ). Yet my posts did not contain a single abusive word or any personal abuse etc.... To me it is censorship , and confirms that absolute freedom of speech does not exist in our so-called Land of the Free and Home of the Brave.
The tone of your comment on this event is certainly sarcastic enough to warrant flagging by many I would imagine.