The driver wasn’t arrested or charged – but this mistake sure did some damage. Take a look for yourself …
-1 No one was in this Centennial neighborhood US Bank Branch at the time that the accident occurred – just before sunrise.
Story and photos by David F. Ashton
Although they’d already surgically removed the Buick, it was clear that the sedan had blown the double front doors off the U.S. Bank branch at 16002 Southeast Division Street, early on April 5.
It wasn’t band of crooks trying to rob the bank, police say, it was merely an accident.
“About 5:12 a.m., Portland Police Bureau (PPB) East Precinct officers responded to a report of a car that crashed into the bank,” said PPB Public Information Officer Sgt. Pete Simpson.
“Officers and medical personnel arrived, and spoke with the 53-year-old female driver who was still seated in her car, a 1988 Buick LeSabre 4-door.” Simpson stated. “The driver told officers that she pulled up to the front to use the ATM and thought she had put her foot on the brake.”
Judging by the damage seen here – clear at the back of the bank branch – the car clearly turned this walk-in branch in to a drive-in bank.
Investigators concluded that she may have slipped and put her foot on the gas, Simpson told us – smashing the car through the double front doors and strewing destruction nearly 30 feet across the lobby.
“The driver was taken to an area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, and did not appear to be impaired,” added Simpson. “No other injuries were reported, and the bank was closed at the time of the crash. No citations have been issued at this time.”
Hours before the bank branch is scheduled to open for business, employees and contractors are busy cleaning up from the early morning accident.
© 2011 David F. Ashton ~ East Portland News
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