A woman trying to back out of a parking spot at a Concord shopping center Saturday morning accidentally accelerated forward, crashing into a Baskin Robbins and trapping an employee behind the ice cream counter, a fire official said.
The crash happened at about 8:20 a.m. at a Baskin Robbins at 785 Oak Grove Road.
It appears the woman had just finished doing some morning shopping at Trader Joe's when she put her Toyota Corolla into drive instead of reverse, Contra Costa County Fire Protection District Battalion Chief Terry Stewart said.
The car drove up onto the sidewalk, took out a support beam that holds up the overhang in front of the business, and then went through the store's front window and crashed into the ice cream display cases, Stewart said.
A young woman was behind the counter at the time preparing to open the store for the day, and was trapped when the car came crashing through, he said.
"The employee was struck with some flying glass and had some minor injuries," Stewart said.
When fire crews arrived, the employee remained stuck behind the counter and the woman was still in her car inside the business, he said.
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Some firefighters began freeing the employee, while others started shoring up the sagging overhang.
"We were afraid that it was going to collapse and compromise the integrity of the building," Stewart said.
The employee was taken to a hospital to get checked out, and the driver was interviewed by Concord police, he said.
The car has been removed from the building and didn't appear to be badly damaged, he said.
The building's utilities were secured, and the property owner, the business owner and a city building inspector were called to the scene.
Stewart said power was briefly out at Flying Colors Comics next door, but store employee Andrew Bardin said the lights were back on before the shop was scheduled to open for the day.
