A car crashed into the front of the SPCA Thrift Store in Aiken’s Mitchell Shopping Center on Friday before its scheduled 10 a.m. opening, causing significant damage.
No people were in the store at the time. An adoptable cat named California Roll, who was inside the building at the time of the accident, didn’t suffer any injuries.
Retail manager Thom Tate said the store would be closed Friday and didn’t know if it would reopen Saturday.
A shopping party from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Monday at the store still was scheduled to take place as of the deadline Friday for the publication for this story.
“The big thing is that nobody [associated with the store] got hurt and our adoptable cat didn’t get hurt,” Tate said. “Accidents happen, but all this can be replaced.”
Damage could be seen to windows, a door frame and a wall beneath the windows.
The automobile that hit the store was a black Nissan Altima. The driver was Timothy Hudson, 28, according to Lt. Jennifer Hayes with the Aiken Department of Public Safety.
The driver wasn’t injured, Hayes wrote in an email.
Hudson was arrested and charged with driving under the influence.
The crash occurred prior to 7:15 a.m.
The SPCA Albrecht Center for Animal Welfare operates the store at 1589 Whiskey Road, and the proceeds are used to support the nonprofit’s efforts.
SPCA employee J.R. Voldness witnessed the accident while sitting in his truck in the Mitchell Shopping Center parking lot before going to work.
The automobile was traveling a high rate of speed, according to him.
It “was flying,” Voldness said.
