Speeding car flies into Grosse Pointe Farms post office building

GROSSE POINTE FARMS — A violent crash shattered an otherwise bustling and pleasant Saturday morning on Mack Avenue in Grosse Pointe Farms.

A 31-year-old Detroit man is said to have been driving at speeds upward of 60 mph at around 10 a.m. July 9 on eastbound Warren Avenue when, instead of turning when Warren ends at Mack, police said he continued driving straight, crossing Mack, driving over the sidewalk and through a small brick wall and flagpole, and then into the Grosse Pointe Farms branch of the U.S. Post Office at 18640 Mack Ave.

Farms Deputy Public Safety Director Andrew Rogers, who was on the scene of the accident, said the man’s vehicle “was definitely airborne,” given its position embedded in the side of the building.

“It exploded that wall like shrapnel,” Rogers said of the building.

The driver is believed to have experienced a medical issue — possibly a seizure — that led to the crash, although that hadn’t been determined conclusively at press time.

The driver’s small car — a 2008 Saturn Aura — crumpled like an accordion, but Rogers said the driver was in surprisingly good shape, considering the powerful impact. Rogers said the driver didn’t have any broken bones but was taken to a local hospital to be looked at.

“Other than being (shaken) up and dazed, he was in very good shape,” Rogers said. “The (brick) wall and the flagpole definitely saved his life. That absorbed a lot of the energy (from the crash).”

Three people inside the post office — including a postal employee who suffered an arm laceration — were injured by flying debris and taken to the hospital, as were about two pedestrians who were struck by flying debris outside. None, however, sustained severe or life-threatening injuries.

“The scariest thing about this is, it’s a nice Saturday morning,” Rogers said of the warm, sunny conditions that day. “There’s always people on that sidewalk (heading to nearby stores and restaurants). It’s a high (traffic) pedestrian area that time of the day…. The fact that no one was seriously injured is a miracle.”

Although the car made its way into the building, causing damage and breaking a water pipe, it could have been even worse.

“Luckily, he missed the gas meter by about 4 feet,” Rogers said.

Vehicles in the parking lot, however, were a different matter, as airborne bricks and other debris flew far and wide, shattering windshields, leaving holes in vehicle doors and causing substantial dents and scratches. Rogers said at least nine vehicles in the post office parking lot were struck by flying building materials.

“It’s not like the (building) wall fell down — it exploded,” Rogers said.

Officers from the Grosse Pointe City Public Safety Department were on the scene to offer help with traffic and firefighting, since at one point, the driver’s vehicle began burning, although the fire was soon brought under control. Rogers said Detroit police were briefly on the scene, as well.

The post office had to close for the day but had reopened by Monday, July 11.

Police were reviewing surveillance footage at press time because some witnesses saw what appeared to be a couple of other passengers who exited the driver’s vehicle and fled the scene before first responders arrived. The concern, said Rogers, is that passengers might have been injured but weren’t treated or evaluated by medics to clear them to return home without further medical attention.