Stores at the Sharon Heights Shopping Center stayed open after an automobile knocked a support beam from the building’s base at 11 a.m. on Friday, December 6.
A silver BMW collided with a support post in front of Wild Berry Yogurt, which was closed at the time.
“We had a vehicle that accidentally ran into one of the support posts that held up the roof line which knocked it out of its brackets connecting the post to the foundation,” Matt Menard, Battalion Chief, explained. “We had to put some shoring to replace that support,” he told me.
Menlo Park Building Inspector Dan Pease assessed the building and found that emergency repairs were required, even though the structure appeared to be sound, according to a “red tag” notice. The notification stated that no one may enter Wild Berry’s main entrance or cross the yellow caution tape until a structural engineer inspects the building and designs a permanent solution.
Wild Berry was able to open because consumers could use the side door.
While Menlo Park firefighters assessed the damage, sandwich store Eric’s Gourmet Food and Catering locked its front doors and urged customers to use the side entrance.
“[The firefighters] came in and assured us that everything was alright and that they would not evacuate the building. “They just told us to close the front door because they were working over there,” said Eric’s Gourmet employee Michael Aderal.
“Overall, everything’s good and no one got hurt, which is great,” Aderal said afterward.
According to Aderal, one of his clients assisted the woman driving the car in getting out, and she claimed to have touched the gas pedal instead of the brake by mistake.
After the accident, the car appeared to have very minimal cosmetic damage and was still driveable.
Nicole Acker, Menlo Park Police spokesman, was not immediately available for comment.