Driver crashes through store in Washington mall

By Alexandra Duggan
The Spokesman Review

SPOKANE VALLEY, Washington – A car crashed into the JCPenney store at the Spokane Valley Mall early Wednesday morning, leaving the driver with minor injuries.

Spokane Valley Fire Department arrived at the scene around 1:30 a.m. and found the car had driven through the mall’s exterior wall and come to a stop inside the store. The driver was unresponsive at the time, the fire department said in a news release. Rescue crews extricated the driver through the rear window and took him to the hospital.

According to a news release from the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office, the driver was in a “crisis,” having denounced self-harm and told a family member he wanted to drive into a wall.

He was placed in psychiatric care at the hospital and was not charged with a crime or arrested, although police have requested a warrant for his arrest on charges of first-degree malicious damage to property. The estimated damage is between $30,000 and $50,000, the sheriff’s office said.

No one was in the store at the time and no other injuries were reported. The hole has since been boarded up.

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