Photos: Car Drives Through Sleepy’s Storefront

Two peopled were injured and the Sleepy’s storefront at 2484 Flatbush Avenue was smashed to pieces when a car accident threw one vehicle through the business on Saturday. A few readers on the scene sent in photos, and Sheepshead Bites freelancer Heather Chin drove by shortly after.

Below is the scene Heather reported back to us:

So I was driving by, annoyed at the tow truck along Avenue T taking forever to move forward. Then it went onto Avenue U as I did. Then I saw Sleepy’s and was like, ohhhh that’s why, and holy shit, look at that car!

A tow truck had already removed a battered small black car from the storefront, out onto the street, and was towing it away. The tow truck I’d been following didn’t have much to do after that. It turned out that the traffic backup was because of the car accident, not the tow truck per se.

According to an unnamed female police officer, the incident occurred between 3:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. on Saturday, July 2.

When I walked in, beds were pushed around, headboards off their track, a dented Kings Courier newspaper bin on a bed, glass everywhere, a deflated balloon hovering above the ground. The whole corner outside Sleepy’s on Avenue U and Flatbush was cordoned off with yellow tape, people were gaping and hoping everyone was all right.

According to Nick H. Totaram, regional manager, and Roy, an employee, the incident left two people taken to the hospital – elderly, in their 70s, the woman in serious condition. Both were injured outside, when the little black car was hit by another car and pushed into Sleepy’s on the Avenue U side of their storefront window.

“First, the newspaper [dispenser] came in through the window, landing over there [on a bed] (It was Kings Courier.) as the car came through. There was another car involved across the street, but this car came in. … No one was inside [the store], thank goodness. … We have emergency crew en route already to clean up [and begin repairing the window.”

As of the next day, the broken window was boarded up, all the shattered glass gone.

Meanwhile, reader Kseniya K. posted the following on our Facebook wall: “There was an accident on Ave U and Flatbush at around 4:15pm today. A young hispanic guy was flying down Ave U and a car with a 60-something couple was making a turn from Flatbush Ave onto Ave U. As the cars collided, the car with the couple went flying through the windshield of a Sleepy’s store on the corner. The driver of the vehicle was not hurt, but the passanger could not move and was taken away on a stretcher. The driver of the other vehicle seemed unharmed.

Here’s a set submitted by Chin, taken just after the car was towed: