Two Great Falls stores damaged as vehicle hits building

A vehicle versus building crash damaged two storefronts in the Albertsons-Target Shopping Center on Tuesday afternoon, surprising employees and leaving Cost Cutters and Little Caesars Pizza on the 2100 block of 10th Avenue South with shattered glass in their lobbies.

At a few minutes before 1 p.m., an older female in a white Honda Fit “inadvertently drove into the front of two stores,” according to Sgt. Robert Beall of the Great Falls Police Department, who said the incident is still under investigation.

“It looks like purely an accident,” Beall said.

There were no injuries in the incident, and the driver was not identified because she is not being charged at this time. She was still on scene as police and fire crews cleaned up but declined to comment on what happened.

Cellular Repair and Wholesale employee Neal Wolfe, who was working when the crash occurred, said he’s heard noises from the neighboring stores, but this was much louder.

“We were like, ‘What in the heck is going on?’” he said. “So we came out.”

The Little Caesars store took the brunt of the damage. The restaurant lost all its windows and was left with a severely bent storefront. Little Caesars employees were not allowed to comment on what happened.

Cost Cutters also lost some glass, but damage to the store was minimal.

“I had my back to it until I heard the big crash,” Cost Cutters Manager Jackie Clough said. “I turned around and this old lady in this white car was just driving by and ran into my door.”

Clough and other employees went to find out if the driver was OK.

“All she would say is that it was a new car and she tried to stop and it wouldn’t stop and she didn’t know why,” Clough continued, adding that this is not the first time that Cost Cutters storefront has had a car hit it.

Cost Cutters remained open for business after the accident.

Reach Tribune Staff Writer Traci Rosenbaum at 791-1490. Follow her on Twitter @GFTrib_TRosenba.