A driver was taken to hospital after crashing into a building in what a business owner claims is the third time this month.
Wholesale Flooring Depot Store in Hollywood, Florida was broken by the driver in May and residents who heard the crash said it sounded terrifying.
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“We live a mile away on US 1 and it sounded like a wrecking ball going through the building,” said one local resident. CBS News.
“We heard like really fast car Passing by, at least 100 mph, and then we heard this big, loud noise. By the time we got here, the police and paramedics had arrived.”
A witness said the driver lost control of his automobile before it flew off the railroad tracks.
They are said to have gone through a grassy field and crashed into a building.
This resulted in the garage door being knocked down and part of the surrounding wall collapsing.
Police revealed that, in March 2021, the building was hit by a different driver.
The owner of the car was reportedly speeding and became airborne after hitting the railway tracks.
They then crashed into a flooring business, got out of their car, and took the license plate off the vehicle before fleeing in flames.
After fleeing the scene, the 2021 driver who struck the wholesale flooring depot was apprehended and charged with leaving the scene of an accident with property damage.
The business owner explained that she had had enough.
“It’s crazy, it’s nuts, it shouldn’t be,” Sharon Ciavato said.
“Every time it’s the same thing, the same scenario, speeding over the railroad tracks, going through the lawn and hitting us.”
She complained that the May crash was the third time something like this had happened to the building.
The business owner stressed that even her insurance is tired of it.
It’s crazy, it’s nuts, it shouldn’t be. Every time it’s the same thing, the same scene, speeding along the railroad tracks, crossing the lawn and hitting us.
Wholesale Flooring Depot owner Sharon Ciavvato
Ciavvato explained that “the first two times it was a stolen car” and asked officers if the most recent accident was another theft-related incident.
“They said, ‘No it was a woman and she’s in critical condition,'” she shared.
“That’s when I realized it’s just a building. My son could be there, the guy who works for me could be there, and the customers could be there. So thank God it’s just a building.”
The damage she has left to deal with this time is estimated at around $200,000.
That said, her insurance company is refusing to pay for these repeated crashes.
At this point, Ciavvato said she believes the city should do something about the problem by installing barriers around her business building.
“I own the building,” she said.
“I can’t just pick up and move.”