The Chronicle Herald (Provincial)
Car smashes through St. John's barbershop
‘I never seen nothing like this before.’
A serious two-vehicle crash in downtown St. John’s on a busy, sunny Sunday afternoon, could have been much worse.
The two middle-aged occupants of a Ford Explorer SUV and the female driver of a Hyundai Elantra all were taken to hospital for treatment of injuries, believed not to be life threatening.
The preliminary investigation into the crash by first responders suggested its cause may have been medical in nature.
The SUV suddenly accelerated and sped across Water Street, striking the Hyundai and crashing in through the Fogtown Barbershop. Luckily as it was Sunday, the shop was closed. There were no pedestrians on the sidewalk.
It was the second time this year that a car crash damaged the shop. On Jan. 13, a vehicle went over the sidewalk, striking and cracking the exterior brick wall resulting in a temporary closure of the barbershop. On Sunday, Newfoundland Power crews were also dispatched to the scene to cut power to the building as there were a few live wires dangling because of the damages.
One staff member of Fogtown who was on scene could be heard saying, “that is where I stand to every day when cutting hair.”
The RNC had the busy downtown intersection closed for a number of hours as they conducted their investigation, the vehicle was removed from inside the barbershop and debris removed from the roadway as the building was being secured. The scene also drew a crowd of onlookers and firefighters and police had to keep some curious onlookers from getting too close to the scene to take photographs. One woman said to fire department Capt. Ronnie Pomeroy, “I never seen nothing like this before.”