Girl, 2, seriously hurt as van plows into 7-Eleven
An Aberdeen fire spokesperson said the little girl was with her mother inside the store at 411 S. Boone St. at about 3:40 p.m. Friday when a 1996 Chevy Astro van crashed through the front entryway.
The girl was seriously hurt, with possible internal injuries and a fractured femur. She was rushed to Grays Harbor Community Hospital and then airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where she was listed in critical condition on Friday night. Her condition was upgraded to serious on Saturday.
The girl's mother and the driver of the van also were hurt. They were taken to Grays Harbor Community Hospital, said Aberdeen Fire Battalion Chief Bill Mayne.
The van smashed through the front of the store amid a hail of broken glass, and then kept going into the interior, crashing into shelves and damaging merchandise as well as striking the mother and daughter before stopping at the rear wall of the building.
A blood sample was taken from the driver to check for evidence of intoxication. The mother was treated and released on Friday night. The driver remained in the hospital in satisfactory condition.
Police later said that the 57-year-old driver previously crashed into another building last year and was cited for negligent driving at the time.
Aberdeen police spokesman John Green said the driver of the van, of Hoquiam, previously crashed into a building in the 400 block of Park Street in Aberdeen at 4 a.m. on April 11, 2009.
An investigation into the earlier accident found that the driver veered to the left before slamming into the building. He was cited for negligent driving in the previous incident.
The 7-Eleven store has been closed as technicians assess structural damage to the building.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation.
