Car crashes into East Lyme building, injures clinic worker
East Lyme — An employee at the Charter Oak Walk-in Medical Center was injured Wednesday after a car crashed through the front wall of the clinic off Flanders Road.
Firefighters said the unidentified woman was seated at a desk behind the front window of the clinic when the Buick Le Sabre traveled over a curb and into the building. The car pushed a portion of the brick façade and an interior wall against the woman's desk.
One employee at the clinic said she heard what sounded like an explosion and then people screaming following the crash.
Firefighters pulled away bricks and used a cutting tool to remove a portion of the metal frame of the front wall in order to free the woman, who was taken by ambulance to Lawrence + Memorial Hospital for treatment. The elderly female driver of the Buick also was taken by ambulance to the hospital.
Sgt. Wilfred Blanchette, East Lyme resident state trooper, said the driver complained of brake failure. The cause of the crash remains under investigation.
The town building official was called to the scene to determine the extent of damage to the building.
g.smith@theday.com
Twitter: @SmittyDay
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