Two people were injured in a crash involving the Bonnie Cafe building and a vehicle driving in reverse.
Centralia Police say 74-year-old Verna Davis of Heritage Circle in Centralia suffered an apparent medical episode when entering the parking lot and jumped the parking block and ran into the westside of the Cafe building. The metal exterior gave way and there was damage inside the office area of Cafe as well.
Police report Davis then put her SUV into reverse and clipped a vehicle in the parking lot before going out on Calumet Street. She continued to drive in reverse going east in the westbound lanes. Davis eventually hit an oncoming westbound car driven by 25-year-old Kember Pyszka of Westwood Drive in Mt. Vernon.
Both Davis and Pyszka were taken to SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital for treatment of injuries. Both of their vehicles were heavily damaged.
The parked SUV owned by Brenda Hubbs of West McCord in Centralia received only minor damage.
Police say fortunately no one was in the office area of Bonnie Cafe at the time of the crash so there were no injuries inside the building.
The crash occurred at 8:13 Thursday morning.
Emergency responders gathered outside Bonnie Cafe. Photo by Tim Ferguson.
