The operator was cited for failing to adequately set the brakes while the vehicle was unattended.
The the front of the Napa Auto Parts store in Palmer is seen after a driverless Lexus sedan smashed into the store Friday, breaking the window and brickwork. PALMER – A driverless Lexus sedan crossed busy North Main Street on Friday morning and slammed into the Napa Auto Parts store because the operator forgot to put the emergency brake on when he parked it on Holbrook Street to get a haircut.
The incident happened at 11 a.m., and left a gaping hole in the brickwork and glass window at the auto parts store. Holbrook Street, which is primarily residential, is across the street from the store.
Police cited Michael Gaudet, 36, of Winchester Street in Baldwinville for failure to adequately set the brakes while the vehicle was unattended.
Building Inspector Richard W. Rollet, who also responded, said the building could stay open, and that the damaged area had to be blocked off.
Police Sgt. Christopher J. Burns said the 2007 silver sedan traveled in reverse a couple hundred feet before it struck the store. It then bounced forward and came to a stop, with only some damage to its back bumper.
Jennifer LaBrecque, of Palmer, was heading toward downtown on North Main Street in a Suburu Legacy when she said she saw the silver car “flying out of the street.”
“I thought it was someone backing up real fast. I had to slam on my brakes. It cut right in front of me,” LaBrecque said.
Gaudet apologized to the police and LaBrecque. Burns said police found him by going into the hair salon.
Napa’s assistant manager, Douglas V. Skinner, said the noise of the crash “scared everybody.”
“I didn’t expect anything like that, of all the years I’ve been here,” said Skinner, a 10-year employee.
No one was injured.