Sperryville’s Before and After struck by runaway vehicle
The historic Sperryville home that houses coffee shop Before and After was struck on Thursday evening, Sept. 3, after a vehicle being towed by a truck came loose and ran off the road.
The truck’s driver, Christopher E. King, 24, of Luray, was not injured in the crash, according to Virginia State Police Public Information Officer Brent Coffey. King, who operated a 2004 Dodge Ram 3500 that hauled a 1998 Chevrolet S-10 on a tow dolly, was charged with failure to secure load.
Around 5:30 p.m., the Chevrolet came loose from the tow dolly, ran off the right side of Main Street, sideswiped a tree, and collided with the porch of the coffee house, police said. There were no injuries as a result of the crash, which marked the second time in recent months the home had been struck.
Virginia State Police Senior Trooper S. Riddle is investigating the crash.
Before and After Owner Kerry Sutten in an interview said the 167-year-old home’s deck was “destroyed,” but he wasn’t able to provide a cost estimate for the damages.
“This street is not safe. That may have been a freak accident, but it’s freak accidents that kill people. And we were lucky nobody got hurt,” he said.
The larger concern, Sutten said, are potential damages to the building’s foundation. The kitchen’s vinyl floor appeared to also be damaged, he said.
“We’re hoping to save the roof because that’s expensive and historic, and it’s important to me that we maintain the historic nature of this building,” he said.
Sutten called on the Rappahannock County Board of Supervisors, namely
Piedmont District Supervisor Christine Smith, to make Main Street safer for both drivers and businesses.