Shopper in Goodwill taken to hospital after car rams into building

A shopper in a Lawrence store was injured Tuesday when a car rammed into the building.

Lawrence police and Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical responded to an injury accident at Goodwill, 2200 W. 31st St., around 11:45 a.m. Tuesday.

The accident happened when Viola Caldwell, 83, of Lawrence, attempted to pull into a handicapped parking stall on the east side of the building and struck the parking curb, Lawrence police spokeswoman Kim Murphree said.

An officer on the scene told Murphree that Caldwell may have hit the gas pedal instead of the brake after striking the curb, catapulting her silver Honda Accord into the side of the thrift store, Murphree said.

When the car rammed into the building, it struck another Lawrence woman, 66-year-old Cheryl Heywood, who was shopping inside the store, Murphree said. Heywood was injured in the accident and taken to Lawrence Memorial Hospital.

Murphree said Heywood was “alert and conscious” as she left the Goodwill in an ambulance. Heywood was treated and released from the hospital Tuesday afternoon, LMH spokeswoman Belinda Rehmer said.

The Goodwill was evacuated following the incident and will remain closed “until a building inspector can determine what has to be done to secure structural integrity,” Murphree said.