UPDATE: Truck plows into Amity beer distributor…
UPDATE: Truck plows into Amity beer distributor (video)
A tractor-trailer crashed into the front of a beer distributor at routes 422 and 662 in Amity Thursday morning. (Photo by Brandie Kessler/The Mercury)
This tractor-trailer crashed into the front of the Amity First Stop beer distributor Thursday morning after a collision at the intersection of Route 422 and 662. (Photo by John Strickler/The Mercury)
By Brandie Kessler |
PUBLISHED: August 9, 2012 at 7:33 a.m. | UPDATED: September 25, 2021 at 12:11 p.m.
AMITY – A tractor-trailer hauling 25 tons of sand plowed through two parked cars and smashed into a beer distributor after an SUV drove into its path at the intersection of Route 422 and Route 662 early Thursday morning, police confirmed.
Amity Township police identified the driver of the SUV as Matthew J. Bobb, 50, and the driver of the tractor-trailer as 52-year-old Nicholas Gardiner, of Bridgeton, N.J. Police said the tractor-trailer was owned by Levari Trucking Co., of Rosenhayn, N.J.
Although neither man was seriously injured during the crash and neither transported by ambulance from the scene, the path of destruction that resulted was easily noticeable to motorists driving by during the morning commute.
According to police, Bobb was behind the wheel of his 2008 Ford Explorer and attempting to drive south on Route 662 around 5:15 a.m. He approached the red light at the intersection with Route 422, and he reportedly stopped at the light before proceeding into the intersection and into the path of the oncoming tractor-trailer.
'According to two independent witnesses, the SUV stopped at the red light and then went' while the light was still red, Amity Police Chief Kent Shuebrook said at the scene.
The tractor-trailer struck the front end of the Ford Explorer causing the Explorer to spin before coming to rest in the middle of the road. The tractor-trailer was forced off the road and into the Car Smart lawn, which butts up against Route 422 across from Michael's Diner, and into two vehicles that were for sale.
Police said the tractor-trailer plowed through a Ford F150 pickup truck and an Audi A4 that were on the lot and then proceeded to snap a light standard on a concrete mount completely off the ground before it struck the building. The truck came to rests 'inside the store,' police said, referencing Amity 1st Stop Beverage, located next door to Car Smart.
The truck remained lodged in the front of the building around 9:30 a.m. before it was finally able to be safely removed by a tow truck.
Police noted in a press release that the Audi A4 was 'hit with such force that it struck the 1st Stop Beverage side of the building.'
Bryan Sanft, the owner of 1st Stop Beverage, said he reviewed the surveillance video from his store which captured the impact of the Audi A4 and the tractor-trailer with his building. Describing what the Audi looked like on the video, Sanft said it was 'rubber-banded' into the building.
Sanft was a good sport about the crash at the scene, joking that now his building 'has air-conditioning,' referencing the gaping hole the tractor-trailer left in the front of the building.
On a serious note, Sanft said he was grateful the crash happened at an hour when no one was working or shopping in the store.
'It could have been worse. Thank God no one was hurt,' Sanft said. 'There's accidents every now and then out here, but nothing of this magnitude.'
He said he probably lost a few hundred cases of beer, as the truck did make entry into the store itself and a pile of smashed up cases of Landshark and some other beers were visible from the front of the building. However, Sanft said he planned to re-open for business as soon as he was given the go-ahead by township code enforcement officer Steve Loomis, who was at the scene before 10 a.m. Loomis was going to inspect the building and make sure it was safe for people to enter before he allowed for it to be opened for business. D&S Elite Construction was on the scene to clean up the debris and shore up the building.
Reached by phone early Thursday evening, Sanft said he would be open for business at 9 a.m. today.
'It's been a long crazy day, but we'll be open at 9 a.m.' today, he said.
He said 'everybody who helped was great,' including the fire companies that assisted at the scene.
Police said citations are pending.
Follow reporter Brandie Kessler on Twitter @I_M_BrandieK.
Earlier version of the story:
AMITY – An Amity man drove his SUV into the path of an oncoming tractor-trailer at the intersection of Route 422 and Route 662 Thursday morning, forcing the truck off the road and on a collision course where it came to rest after striking a beer distributor across from Michael's Diner, police said.
Amity Township police identified the driver of the SUV as Matthew J. Bobb, 50, and the driver of the tractor-trailer as 52-year-old Nicholas Gardiner, of Bridgeton, N.J.
Police said Bobb was southbound on Route 662 in his 2008 Ford Explorer around 5:15 a.m. Thursday when he stopped at the red light at the intersection with Route 422.
'According to two independent witnesses, the SUV stopped at the red light and then went,' Amity Police Chief Kent Shuebrook said at the scene.
The tractor-trailer, hauling approximately 25 tons of sand, struck the front end of the Ford Explorer and was forced off the road in the area of Car Smart where it struck two parked cars, an Audi a4 and a Ford F150 that were for sale. After plowing through those two vehicles, the tractor-trailer continued on, struck a light standard and completely snapped it and its concrete base off, and finally struck Amity 1st Stop Beverage and came to rest inside the store.
Police said only minor injuries were suffered by Bobb and Gardiner during the crash.
Bryan Sanft, the owner of Amity 1st Stop Beverage, seemed a good sport about the crash at the scene, joking that now his business 'has air-conditioning.'
Sanft shrugged his shoulders as he looked at the building and said 'it could have been worse. Thank God no one was hurt.'
The tractor-trailer, which was lodged into the front of the beverage distributor, wasn't able to be removed by a tow truck until around 9 a.m.
Sanft said he planned to be open for business as soon as he was given the go-ahead by the township code enforcement officer who responded to the crash around 9:30 a.m.
Earlier version of the story AMITY – A tractor-trailer plowed into the front of the Amity First Stop beer distributor across from Michael's Diner around 5:30 a.m. Thursday.
The tractor-trailer reportedly tried to avoid a collision with a minivan at the intersection of routes 422 and 662 before traveling into the parking lot of the CarSmart, which shares the building with the beer distributor, then into the front of the brick building.
Several cars and a lightpost were damaged in the crash.
There were no reported injuries.
The damage to the beer distrbutor was confined to the front of the store and the accident remained off the highway and did not disrupt rush hour traffic.
The beverage shop owner said he planned to be open for business after the tractor-trailer is removed from the building.
Check back here for updates on this story.
CORRECTION: The time of the accident was incorrect in the original version of this story. We apologize for the error.
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Brandie Kessler