Car crashes into vacant store

The fact that most storefronts at the Post Falls Factory Outlets are empty might not be a good thing for the local economy, but in a glass-is-half-full sort of way, what’s bad for business may have prevented serious injury Tuesday morning.

Damage was limited to a broken window and a dented pillar when a car crashed into an empty storefront at the quiet strip mall Tuesday morning. Employees at the nearest business, a factory shoe store a few spaces away, didn’t even hear the car crash through the window.

A display of china – set up just a couple feet behind the glass as an advertisement for the Mikasa store across the street – was mostly undisturbed, though a coffee cup had tipped over.

Piles of burned rubber, black tire tracks and shattered glass were left on the sidewalk as the driver, identified as 63-year-old Kenneth R. Young, apparently struggled to back his vehicle out from under the covered walkway.

Lisa Siegwald was driving past the outlets on her way to work when she saw Young headed out of the parking lot. She said she slowed down because she thought he was going to cut straight across the road. Instead, she said he made a wide turn onto Riverbend Avenue, clipping her right front bumper.

Siegwald watched as Young drove down the wrong side of the road and through a red light.

She joined other witnesses in following Young’s car. He eventually turned onto McGuire Road, negotiated two curves, then took out a couple of mailboxes as he neared a dead-end, she said.

That’s where Post Falls Police placed Young under arrest, Lt. Greg McLean said. McLean said Young was taken to Kootenai Medical Center to be treated for injuries.

The investigation into the incident is ongoing, McLean said.