Car Plows Straight Through California Smoke Shop

Police sirens flash in a file photo. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

A car crashed through the wall of a California smoke shop, then continued to plow through the opposite wall of the shop—narrowly missing an employee.

The incident occurred Dec. 13 at the Cobra Smoke Shop in Fullerton, California, at 3:30 a.m., the Los Angeles Times reported.

Video from the shop’s surveillance camera—which is available to be seen on FOXLA’s Youtube channel—shows a woman driving a white Mercedes pulling up in front of the store, briefly stopping and then plowing through the store’s front wall as a surprised employee watches from behind the counter.

Without slowing down, the driver then continues driving through the shop and crashes through the back wall finally coming to rest in the back parking lot.

The Fullerton Police Department responded to the scene shortly after and conducted a field sobriety test on the woman.

She was later arrested and taken to the Fullerton Police Station on suspicion of DUI.

The Anaheim Fire Department also responded to the scene to assess damage to the shop’s structure.

Neither of the two employees nor the driver were injured during the incident.

Fullerton police identified the driver as a 22-year-old woman from Santa Ana, according to the LA Times.

Sgt. Ryan O'Neil, a Fullerton Police spokesperson, told the LA Times that the woman was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence and taken to the Fullerton Police Department, where she was cited and released.

“The message we want to send is that during the holiday times, be safe and make good decisions when you go out drinking,” Mr. O’Neil said. “Line up a sober ride so you can get home safe to your family.”

The shop’s manager, Seja Karim, 22, said that as soon as the owner heard the crash, they came out from the back of the store, thinking the car crash was part of a robbery scheme and someone from the car would start stealing inventory.

But Ms. Karim told the LA Times she thought the whole thing was an accident.

“In the video, you can see it seemed like she stopped and then she put her hands up and then the car just accelerated,” Ms. Karim said. “I think she hit the gas instead of the brake and ran into the whole store.”

Despite the gaping hole left by the crash, she said customers continued to show up in the morning just a few hours later.

“We never closed,” Ms. Karim said. “We just cleaned up the area and got right back to business.”