Know when to stop: SUV crashes into Plaid Pantry store

The photos show it all: It’s amazing no one was killed, in this Madison South neighborhood wreck …

Both the driver, and a customer, are injured – when a Lexus GS 460 SUV comes crashing into a convenience store. Dick Harris, PF&R photo

By David F. Ashton

By all accounts, it was a peaceful Saturday morning in the Madison South neighborhood, on August 1, and then an SUV tore through a parking lot and smashed inside a Plaid Pantry store. It was 10:45 a.m.

Portland Fire & Rescue (PF&R) rushed to the location, at 2116 NE 82nd Avenue, just north of NE Tillamook Street, and saw a late model Lexus GS 460 SUV and rammed through the front windows – completely into the store.

“When the vehicle crashed through the front doors, it damaged a structural support,” reported PF&R spokesman Jesse Altig.

The Portland Fire Urban Search and Rescue team responds to shore up the front of the store. Dick Harris, PF&R photo

The PF&R USAR (Urban Search and Rescue) team was called in to help brace the building, and reduce the risk of collapse, Altig said.

“The team used a ‘rescue strut’ to keep the structure secure while the vehicle was removed from inside the building,” remarked Altig. “Once the vehicle was removed, the USAR team used additional equipment to create a temporary support to ensure the safety of customers, and to minimize further damage to the building.”

After the SUV is dragged out of the store, it’s clear that if customers had been standing there, they’d have been killed. Dick Harris, PF&R photo

The driver of the Lexus was transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, Altig added. “An adult male inside the store was also transported with non-life-threatening injuries.”

It is known that the crash was not the result of a nearby traffic accident – but the cause of the acceleration of the SUV into the building remains unknown.

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