A Cape Girardeau woman escaped injury Wednesday afternoon when she lost control of the 2001 Buick she was driving and crashed into the entrance at Save-A-Lot, 121 S. Sprigg St.

"I couldn't stop my car. It just took off," Doris Wilkinson said after the crash. "I guess the brakes wouldn't work; I don't know what."

Wilkinson's son, Steve Wilkinson of Cape Girardeau, said witnesses told him the accident could have been the result of a mechanical problem.

"She pulled in and parked and was backing up, and she went to pull out," he said. "She was pumping the brakes, trying to stop the car, and it just kept going."

No one was hurt in the accident, which damaged an entrance near the east end of the building. Store manager Joe Bullard said there was no structural damage to the building. Business continued as usual, with customers using another entrance while emergency workers removed the car from the building. "It's just more or less cosmetic," Bullard said. "Going to have to replace the aluminum and new Stanley doors and a lot of glass. It looks bad, but it's not structural."

Corey Quintana said he heard the crash from his home at the corner of Sprigg and William streets.

"I was down the street, and I heard a big old boom," Quintana said. "I heard a big old racket."

Doris Wilkinson said this was the first time she'd had a problem with the car. She and her son both expressed gratitude that the accident happened in a parking lot and not on a busy highway.

"I've never had anything like that ever happen to me in my life," Doris Wilkinson said. "Thank God nobody else was involved, and nobody was hurt. I'm thankful. Good Lord was taking care of me."

Doris Wilkinson said her vehicle was insured, and Bullard said the store also was insured.

Darin Hickey, public information officer for the Cape Girardeau Police Department, said no citations were issued in the crash, which occurred on private property. He said the cause of the crash is under investigation.

epriddy@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

121 S. Sprigg St., Cape Girardeau, MO