In addition to crushing the storefront, the SUV hit a parked car, a street sign, and ran over the mailbox. (KCAW photo/Robert Woolsey)
Police are investigating a woman for drunk driving, after she plowed her SUV into the Sitka’s downtown postal substation Tuesday night (1-19-16).
Sitka police lieutenant Lance Ewers says that the woman was leaving the Moose Lodge a little after 9 PM in an SUV, when the vehicle crossed the street, jumped the curb, and ran head-on into the post office.
“She ran smack-dab into it, and somehow managed to hit another parked vehicle, and a sign. And also, in trying to leave the area, ran over the outside mailbox. Just all kinds of things. So thankfully — thankfully — no one was hurt.”
Substation manager Ed Conway says the damage will not interfere with postal operations. (KCAW photo/Robert Woolsey)
The driver, however, reportedly sustained injuries and was transported to Sitka Community Hospital for treatment. Ewers says police executed a search warrant to obtain a sample of her blood. It will be sent to the state crime lab. He calls the case “very solvable.”
“The facts that were developed at the scene of the crime are leading us in the direction that she was under the influence of alcohol.”
There is no cost estimate for the incident. Ewers says the woman’s Izuzu sustained major front-end damage. Contractors were already busy at the post office Wednesday morning, where the left side of the store front had been crushed. Substation manager Ed Conway says it likely would be very expensive to replace the custom windows, but he does not yet have a figure. He adds that the damage would not affect post office operations, and that it would be business-as-usual until repairs were complete.
