Driver may have thought entry was drive-through

A Salvation Army bell ringer soliciting donations was injured Tuesday, Dec. 16, when a car crashed into the front door Walgreens in Arlington Heights. 

The bell ringer suffered a leg injury and was brought to a local hospital for treatment, police said.

A preliminary investigation indicates that the driver may have mistaken the front door/awning of the drug store for a drive-through window.

The driver, an 87-year-old male from Arlington, will be cited for operating to endanger.

Arlington police also filed an "immediate threat" notification to the Registry of Motor Vehicles, asking the state Department of Motor Vehicles to review the driver's right to have a license.

The store was temporarily closed after the crash, which is under investigation.

The same door had been repaired following recent damage.

At right, wedged car taken by Capt. Richard Flynn.

A department news release issued at 2:45 p.m. said Arlington Police and Fire Departments responded after calls came in at 12:47 p.m., and responders were on scene within two minutes. Arriving units found a 2008 Toyota Camry had been driven through the awning of the store and a man had been pinned under the vehicle.

Tony Jammal, who police called a good Samaritan and who works at Antoine's Auto Repair, across Mass. Ave., came to the scene with a vehicle floor jack and lifted the vehicle off the victim. The victim, a 50-year-old man from Boston whose name was not released, was taken by Armstrong Ambulance to an area hospital with injuries, mostly to his right leg, that are considered serious but not life-threatening.

This story was published Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2014.