LANSING, Mich — Tragedy hit the Mercedes clothing Store Wednesday afternoon. An SUV crashed through the front of store, leaving behind shattered glass, a boarded up window and a lot of damaged merchandise.
“I looked up and he was driving my store maybe about 50 miles per hour,” said owner of Mercedes Clothing store Daniel Thomas.
Thomas was there when it all happened. Police are releasing limited information, but say they responded around 3:30 pm. When they arrived, the SUV was already in the store. Police said the driver, who was sent to the hospital with another person, had a "medical episode”, but the cause of the crash is unknown.
While authorities have not confirmed this, Thomas said he was close friends with the driver, and he passed away shortly after the crash.
“He was a good hearted person and you never want to see a good hearted person die for no reason,” Thomas said. “He was good person and its a lot of good people in Lansing.
Some of those good people pitched in to help out.
“Some people in Lansing came and helped me get it cleaned up a bit,” Thomas said.
Thomas said he's looking at about $15,000 in damages and while he’s trying to stay optimistic, there’s still some uncertainty on how he'll recover financially.
“The aftermath of all this is going to be really hard on me,” he said.
If you want to help donate to the Mercedes Clothing Store , call 248-925-7629.
