Drunk driver rams into liquor store

EAST HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) -- No one was seriously injured after a car crashed through a package store on Route 80 in East Haven.

The woman didn't just drive into the store, she drove through the store, and the destruction inside is incredible.

The Ford Taurus came barreling through the front window of the Yankee Liquor Store on Route 80 in East Haven. Tire tracks are visible on the floor. The merchandise strewn all over and a counter was pushed back from the impact.

Normally, the employees say they would be standing in front of the counter, but the owner, Deepak Pattani, and his employees were all standing just to the side.

"Yes, we were this close, we were on the next register," he said.

They had no time to react.

"It's just happened really, in fraction of seconds, we couldn't even have time to see what happened really," he said.

The driver, Sharon Brooks, is a regular customer and police say she was driving drunk. It all happened around 2:30 Friday afternoon. She had apparently already been drinking and was heading back to the liquor store, but instead, went right through it.

"It's a lot of damage, it's gonna take a lot of time to clean up and get back again," Pattani says.

The damage was extensive; about half their inventory gone, smashed and spilled all over the floor.  One of the employees was hurt. He was not run over, but he fell when everything went flying. He was taken to the hospital but has minor injuries. There were no customers in the store at the time and amazingly, no one else was hurt.

"We are been shocked, never happened, we've been here for 8 years, this is the first time ever something like this happened," Pattani said, "So I'm just so overwhelmed at this point."

Brooks was charged with driving under the influence. Police are still investigating.