An SUV slammed into the NAPA Auto Parts building at 325 S. Broadway Wednesday afternoon, and took out a telephone pole along the way.
The driver fled west on foot and was later contacted by the Cortez Police Department, said Lt. Andy Brock.
“The driver took the turn too fast, ricocheted off the building then hit it again,” he said. “He then got out and ran home.”
The cause of the crash is under investigation, and charges are pending, Brock said. No one was hurt.
The driver had turned right from South Broadway onto West Fourth Street when he crashed.
“We heard someone hit the building, and we all ran the other way,” including the shop dog, said an employee inside the store.
The impact on the north side of the building knocked in an interior wall and toppled a large shelf onto a desk in an office.
“Luckily no one was in there,” said store owner Jordan Owens. The damage is being assessed, and the store is still open, he said.
The driver narrowly missed a gas meter outside the building.
The Cortez Fire Protection District and Southwest Health System ambulance also responded to the scene.
