Subaru crashes into lobby at Southwest Animal Emergency Clinic in St. George

Written by E. George Goold
July 27, 2022

ST. GEORGE — Life at the Southwest Animal Emergency Clinic was a little hectic Wednesday night after the driver of a Subaru Outback accidentally crashed her vehicle into the main entrance of the building.

A Subaru Outback crashed into the lobby of the Southwest Animal Emergency Clinic, St. George, Utah, July 27, 2022 | Photo by E. George Goold, St. George News

St. George Police Department, St. George Fire Department and Gold Cross Ambulance personnel all responded to the scene around 6:30 p.m. at 1067 E Tabernacle in St. George.

The driver of the Outback, an elderly woman who was bringing her black lab in for a visit to the clinic, spoke to St. George News after she was interviewed by police officers.

The driver said she was pulling into the handicapped parking space in front of the clinic, became distracted by the dog that was in the backseat and inadvertently hit the accelerator instead of the brake pedal.

“That’s exactly what happened,” she said.

Fortunately, neither she nor her dog was injured. One fortunate patron reported to St. George News that he was seated on the other side of the window waiting for his dog to be treated less than two minutes before the Subaru crashed through the glass. 

The vehicle reportedly was not going very fast at the moment of collision and the force of the impact was not sufficient enough to engage the airbag.

The structure of the building did not appear badly damaged as only the large window was destroyed. Shards of glass were sprayed all over the floor in the lobby of the clinic and crunched as they broke beneath the boots of firefighters. 

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Eric George Goold came to St. George News from southwestern Colorado, where he was a radio news reporter. He has been a journalist for over 20 years in five different states. He graduated with a master's degree in English from Kansas State University and writes nonfiction as well. Goold has been published in Sunstone Magazine and has done multiple public readings about local history. When he has free time, he enjoys chess, movies and dogs.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @STGnews

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