Car Smashes Into Howell Avenue Strip Mall

A driver and workers at an Edward Jones office were shaken but not injured after a car smashed through the glass of a strip mall at Howell and Drexel avenues mid-Tuesday morning.

Mike Endres, a financial adviser and operator of the office at 116 E. Drexel Ave., said a client accidentally hit the gas pedal instead of the brake and drove through the front window.

The driver was checked out by paramedics but was OK, Endres said.

"She was very apologetic," he said.

Jessie Nelson, who was working in the front desk area at the time, was also unhurt.

"I was just sitting at my desk and I heard a noise, but I didn't know what it was," Nelson said. "I looked up and by that time the car was already coming through the building.

"I'm all right. I was just (shaken) up, that's all."

Edward Jones will still be operational while the building is repaired, Endres said.

"We're very happy that no one was injured," he said. "The rest of this (damage to the building) will get taken care of over time."