Frank Lewis | Daily Times
A station wagon (left) minutes after it crashed into an ASC bus and the front of the Fish Bowl bar at the corner of Eighth Street and Campbell Avenue. The occupant of the station wagon was reportedly attempting to elude police after a robbery at the Family Dollar Store on 11th Street in Portsmouth.
Frank Lewis
PDT Staff Writer
Police at the scene of a spectacular two-vehicle crash Tuesday were awaiting news from Southern Ohio Medical Center as to the names and severity of injuries of several people in both vehicles.
At the intersection of Eighth Street and Campbell Avenue, a station wagon had crashed into the front of the Fish Bowl bar and was demolished. Behind that car was a badly damaged ASC bus.
“It was a shoplifting that turned into a robbery at the Family Dollar Store on 11th Street involving the lady that was driving the station wagon,” Lieutenant Jerry Leach of the Portsmouth Police Department said. “She also hit-skipped a vehicle over in front of Portsmouth Building Supply on Gallia Street.”
Detectives reportedly located the vehicle driving in the east end of Portsmouth and gave chase.
“She ran from the detectives when they operated their lights and siren,” Leach said. “She continued to run from them, then she ran into the ASC bus here at Eighth and Campbell.”
People in both vehicles were injured and transported to SOMC.
“Everybody that was in both vehicles have gone to the hospital,” Leach said. “She hit the building here also and did some damage to the Fish Bowl. It looks like about a six or seven inch indention in the building.”
Patrons inside the bar were frightened when the crash occurred.
“I had just gotten off work, sat down at the bar and had just taken my first sip of beer, when we heard sirens, and bang, we heard a crash,” patron Rob Black said. “This car right here hit the building and smoke just comes rolling through the door, and everybody inside was scared to death. We thought the car was coming right through the building. It actually went into the foundation of the building, and they went downstairs and looked, and it has crumbled the foundation of the building.”
Black pointed at the concrete block foundation. “If this (had not) been here, that car would have come right through the building.”
Leach said he was awaiting status calls from the hospital and expected to have the names of those involved in the crash by sometime Tuesday evening, but after the Daily Times news deadline.
Frank Lewis may be reached at 740-353-3101, ext. 232, or at flewis@heartlandpublications.com
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