Woman Drives Station Wagon Into Bookstore

Yahoo News ^ | Today | Unspecified

[day10]

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - A woman drove a station wagon through a wall of the Barnes & Noble bookstore, sending glass, wood and books flying. Three people suffered leg injuries. Two were taken to a hospital.

The store was filled with shoppers at about 2 p.m. Sunday when the Subaru station wagon plowed backward through picture windows in a reading area in the store's northwest corner. The car took out the travel section and barreled about 40 feet through the bookstore before coming to rest in nonfiction.

"I thought it was an earthquake," said shopper Chris Badgett, 27. "There was screaming, people were running. I was running too."

The driver, Linda A. Duck, 58, has not been charged. She was not injured.

Just before the Subaru hit, Geoff Brosamer was sitting in the reading area, a space with armchairs, reading tables, framed portraits of famous authors and a fireplace.

Brosamer walked to the checkout counter and asked staff members to announce that his creative writing group would be meeting in the lounge. He walked back to the lounge, looked out the window, and saw the Subaru approaching.

"I saw this car turning, like it was going to go into the parking space," Brosamer said. "And then she just kept going and going."

The sound of shattering glass was deafening, witnesses said. People screamed and shrieked and dodged the car as it headed toward the fireplace, jerked right, and smashed into shelves of travel and history books.

A retired police officer helped get the driver out of the car. Two dogs in the back of the Subaru were taken to an animal clinic for safekeeping.

Duck told witnesses she'd just taken her dogs for a run and decided to stop by Barnes & Noble on her way home. She seemed to be in shock, bystanders said.

The store never closed.

Anchorage police spokesman Paul Honeman said Monday investigators will try to determine whether there was a mechanical failure or driver error that led to the incident.

[day10]

For your consideration.

[Dashing Dasher]

I read the headline and thought - My mother was in Anchorage?

[pipecorp]

the car took out the travel section???? hmmm... it was looking for directions?

[day10]

Wow - you are good! I didnt even have time to ping anyone.

[brivette]

Duck,dive,cover.

[Dashing Dasher]

The car took out the travel section and barreled about 40 feet through the bookstore before coming to rest in nonfiction.

SWEET!!!

This stuff writes itself.

[SamAdams76]

I wasn't going to believe this story until I realized that the car finally parked in the non-fiction section.

[gorush]

No doubt looking for a book on brake repair.

[Michael Goldsberry]

The car took out the travel section and barreled about 40 feet through the bookstore before coming to rest in nonfiction.

ROTFLMAO!

[patton]

My great-grandmother lived in Anchorage - Bertha Cortez Patton.

[HitmanLV]

Sudden acceleration. What was it, the Audis back in the mid 1980s? A rash of women reporting the car suddenly acclerated on them?

[Dashing Dasher]

Sudden acceleration. What was it, the Audis back in the mid 1980s? A rash of women reporting the car suddenly acclerated on them?

HERE WE GO AGAIN!!!

UGH!

[najida]

Oh boy....

What a way to shop. :)

[txroadkill]

Next time someone asks for this book, I'll bet they bring it to her.

[Larry Lucido]

So, was the driver booked?

[RedBeaconNY]

Introduce her to Billy Joel; I believe he has more than a few drive-ins to claim as his own. They should get along just magnificently!

[b4its2late]

Did you hear the one about the blond who thought Barnes and Noble had a drive thru?

[Talking_Mouse]

The store never closed.

My kind of book store.

[Larry Lucido]

So, was the driver booked?

Never mind. Says here she was booked, printed and bound over for trial. Since the the jail is overcrowed, they picked up her temporary accommodations at a table of con-tents.

[Dashing Dasher]

LOL!!!!