BELLINGHAM — A driver pulling into a parking space at the Starbucks at 1031 W. Bakerview Road lost control of his rental car and crashed through the coffee shop’s front window Tuesday morning, injuring five people before the car came to rest against the back wall of the seating area.
Lt. Steve Felmley, Bellingham Police spokesman, said the victims suffered sprains, cuts and bruises, and their injuries did not appear lifethreatening.
All the victims were conscious.
Four people were taken to St. Joseph Hospital by ambulance and a fifth person with a cut on her wrist was taken to the hospital by her husband after medics gave her first aid at the scene. The names of those injured were not available Tuesday.
Starbucks employees said they could not comment.
Felmley identified the driver as Clinton Worstman, 70, of Arlington, Texas. Late Tuesday afternoon, Felmley said Worstman was cited for seconddegree negligent driving, which carries a potential $550 fine.
Worstman told police he was pulling the gray 2008 Chrysler 300 into the parking space about 9:30 a.m. when the car surged forward across the walkway, through the plate glass window and into the coffee shop.
In the aftermath, the inside of the coffee shop was strewn with chunks of glass, upended furniture, spilled coffee and drops of blood.
Ashley Myers of Bellingham said she was waiting for her cup of coffee near the counter when the accident occurred.
“All of a sudden the car went through the glass and through the lobby clear to the far wall,” Myers said. “There was one guy pinned to the wall. It knocked people out of the way.”
Ingrid Martens of Bellingham was sitting with her 2-year-old son in another seating area closer to the counter and away from the impact. She said the crash sounded like an explosion.
“It picked up a couple of people in their chairs and just threw them against the wall,” Martens said. “Luckily, nobody was under the car. … It was kind of miraculous.”
One man inside the coffee shop briefly lost sight of his little girl when the car smashed through, and was in a panic until he realized his wife had grabbed the child and pulled her out of the way, Martens said. The man declined to be interviewed.
Martens said the driver of the car immediately got out and began helping the bystanders assisting the victims.
“He was really shaken up,” Martens said.
Psychologist Donald Stevens was sitting at a window table with a woman he was interviewing for a job. Stevens said the onrushing car knocked the woman out of her chair, toppled their coffee cups, and sprayed both of them with chunks of shattered glass. The woman, who declined to give her name, was the one who suffered a cut wrist.
“It was a scary experience,” Stevens said. “He hit the wall, and the tires were still spinning.”