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Driver crashes car into Tidyman’s

Tidyman's employee Steve Anderson mops up soda in the checkout area at the McKinnon Tidyman's on Wednesday in Spokane Valley. A woman drove through the front of the building after she apparently stepped on the gas pedal when she meant to brake. No one was injured. (Liz Kishimoto / The Spokesman-Review)
By Trinity Hartman trinityh@spokesman.com
Tidyman's employee Steve Anderson mops up soda in the checkout area at the McKinnon Tidyman's on Wednesday in Spokane Valley. A woman drove through the front of the building after she apparently stepped on the gas pedal when she meant to brake. No one was injured. (Liz Kishimoto / The Spokesman-Review)

A 72-year-old woman crashed her Oldsmobile through the front of a Tidyman’s grocery store Wednesday.

The woman apparently hit the gas pedal instead of the brake when pulling into the Tidyman’s across from the Home Depot in Spokane Valley about 3:15 p.m.

The crash littered the front of the store with broken glass, and the impact mangled two of the checkout counters. No shoppers or employees were injured. The driver was taken to the hospital as a precaution, but she did not appear to be injured, according to the Spokane Valley Police Department.

The crash closed the store at 116 S. McKinnon until about 6 p.m. Wednesday.

Customers seemed surprised as they approached the store, only to come upon a gaping hole in the front of the facade.

Police do not suspect that Marilyn L. Luckett, the driver of the 1986 Oldsmobile Delta, was impaired by drugs or alcohol, said Spokane Valley Officer Joe Bonin. It appears Luckett simply pushed the wrong pedal, Bonin said.

Unless the woman was under the influence of drugs or alcohol, she won’t be cited for any driving misdeeds because the crash happened on private property, Bonin said.

The crash did an estimated $20,000 in damage to the low-slung metal building. The car hit flats of Shasta soda cans, spewing soda across the floor. Employees began shoveling the broken glass and cleaning the store Wednesday afternoon.

The McKinnon Tidyman’s was the grocery chain’s first store in Spokane. It was built in 1968, according to Patty Kilcup, Tidyman’s director of public affairs.

“It was an unfortunate accident, and we’re in the process of putting the store back together,” Kilcup said Wednesday. “We’re just very thankful there were no injuries and that all the customers and employees were fine.”