(COLDWATER) – A 37-year-old woman from Branch County was admitted to ProMedica Coldwater Regional Hospital for treatment of injuries on Saturday following a bizarre series of events which ended with the woman driving her vehicle into the Coldwater WalMart store.
Branch County Undersheriff Keith Eichler says deputies were sent to Rick’s Party Store at about 7:30 a.m. Saturday morning for a breaking and entering alarm. When they got there, the front door was damaged and someone had entered the store.
The deputies found the suspect was gone but several items were taken. Central Dispatch then told the deputies that someone who may have been involved in the break in was at the Speedway Service Station at 524 East Chicago.
Information was received from the gas station that the suspect had driven away and was heading east on U.S. 12. A few minutes later, the vehicle crashed through the general merchandise entrance on the east side of the Walmart store and came to a stop in the area of the pharmacy.
The female driver was the lone occupant.
A Walmart customer suffered a minor injury but they refused medical treatment. A Walmart associate said there was a huge noise when the vehicle crashed into the store and it was scary.
All shoppers had to get into the store through the grocery entrance. Eichler said in a news release issued Saturday night that the incident remains under investigation and charges are pending. The suspect’s name is being withheld pending court action.
