Smash!
A silver Dodge Durango barreled into the building, shattering the plate glass window at 545 Whalley Ave.
The crash happened at around 10:30 a.m. No one was injured. The crash appears to have been an accident.
The car was unoccupied when it jumped the curb and hit the building.
Moments later, a man ran up with a bag of diapers, hopped in the car and sped away.
Police were unable to locate the SUV.
Boykin (pictured left), an administrative assistant at the NAACP, was alone in the office at the time of the crash. Firefighter Gary Tinney was in an adjoining office belonging to the Firebirds, a local organization of black firefighters.
At 10:45 a.m., Boykin was standing outside police tape on Whalley Avenue, as cops and firefighters investigated the crash. Still shaken, she explained what had happened.
She was working at her computer, trying to find a caterer for an NAACP fundraiser next week. Looking up, she saw an SUV reversing across Whalley Avenue from Hobart Street. “Why is that guy backing up?” she thought to herself. When the car didn’t stop, she thought “Oh my god, this man’s crazy.”
Then she started yelling and ran into the Firebirds’ office to find Tinney.
“I heard her scream and the car was coming,” said Tinney. He said he was on the phone at the time. –martin pratt
