An allegedly intoxicated driver was cited for multiple charges Monday night in Vancouver after crashing his vehicle through a fence and into a business on Fruit Valley Road.
Officers and firefighters were dispatched to West 39th Street and Fruit Valley Road about 8:42 p.m.
Gabriel Pratoussy, 41, crashed into Food Express Inc., Vancouver Police Department spokeswoman Kim Kapp said in an email.
Pratoussy faces potential charges of DUI and unattended hit-and-run, police said.
The police report does not include information about how the vehicle ended up hitting the fence and building.
“Both the passenger and the driver did not recall how they (crashed),” Kapp said. “They only remembered the airbag deploying.”
The driver walked away from the crash but was located nearby, Kapp said.
The wall of the business was pushed in about 18 inches, said Food Express Inc. terminal manager Jimmie Craig.
Employees were inside washing trucks. They came out of the building and helped two people out of the car, Craig said.
There have been several instances of vehicles crashing into the building over the years, Craig said. Before the business had even opened, a teenager crashed into it, killing a passenger, he said.
In March 1998, a 19-year-old driving a Chevrolet Celebrity, a single-generation model, ran a stop sign and crashed into the building. A passenger was ejected from the front seat and died of head injuries, according to story published in The Columbian.
Food Express Inc. does not have an estimate on the damage caused by Monday night’s crash. The business is considering putting a stronger barrier alongside the building, Craig said.
