Groton — A pickup truck drove into Northern Lights Smoke Shop on Saturday afternoon, damaging the building and causing the driver to be transported to the hospital for injuries.

About 12:20 p.m. Saturday, the truck — a white 2004 Toyota Tundra — slowly drove into the business at 771 Long Hill Road while appearing to try to complete a U-turn, according to employees present at the time of the incident.

The driver — identified by Groton Town police as Jeremy Coher, 45, of 60 Thames St., Apt 21, Groton — was transported to Lawrence + Memorial Hospital in New London in custody of police after being extricated from his truck by Poquonnock Bridge Fire Department firefighters.

Police said they were still investigating the crash, and Coher would face charges.

According to police, several Groton police officers suffered from smoke inhalation at the scene, and two had to be transported to Pequot Health Center in Groton for further treatment. No store employees were injured, police said.

“This guy parked right in front of the store and I don’t know if he ever put the car in park or not, but I slowly saw his right tire go up, his wheel was turned and it was going slow,” employee Reimsy Aloyo Ruiz said Saturday. “I stopped and I said, ‘Oh my god, is he on the sidewalk right now?’ He started getting closer to the glass like he was doing a U-turn, I was like, ‘No way, he has no space, oh my god,’ and then the glass just shattered and he just jammed in there..."

Aloyo Ruiz and co-worker Heather Beltz said they noticed the driver seemed to be injured. They exited through the hole created by the truck when it crashed into the building — it took out the entire floor-to-ceiling glass window immediately to the left of the entrance.

“I ran toward the phone to call 911, and I stopped to look at him, and I could tell he was having a seizure or something, he was not OK,” Aloyo Ruiz said. “And (Beltz) ran toward the back so I got really scared because then he revved up again. Nothing caught on fire, but there was a lot of smoke because his tires never stopped rubbing because he never took his foot off the accelerator.”

According to a news release sent out later on Saturday by Groton Town police, the truck had "driven through the front entrance almost entirely to the rear of the store." The release said that when firefighters were "met with active physical resistance when they attempted to extricate" Coher from the truck.

"Groton police officers quickly arrived on scene and entered the store to assist the firefighters, but Coher began fighting with police officers too," the release read. "Officers were finally able to place Coher under arrest."

Police blocked off traffic along Long Hill Road from the intersection of Plaza Court and Poquonnock Road to the intersection of Drozdyk Drive until 3:20 p.m.

Fire personnel, along with the state fire marshal, were on scene assessing the damage. In addition to town police and Poquonnock Bridge firefighters, the Groton City Fire, Mystic Fire, Old Mystic Fire, Sub Base Fire, New London Fire and Mohegan Tribal Fire departments, L+M medics, and Groton Ambulance, Mystic River Ambulance and North Stonington Ambulance arrived on scene.

Dennis Foster III, a manager at the shop, wasn’t on duty at the time but he was preparing for his afternoon shift when he was made aware of what happened.

“This store has been open since 2010. In all our years, this is the first time something like this has happened,” he said. “I expected a robbery before I expected this.”

s.spinella@theday.com