A WITNESS has described the moment a car ploughed through the front doors of Target in Castlemaine on Friday afternoon, narrowly missing shoppers and staff and causing extensive damage to the store.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The white Ford ute accelerated forward from its parking space about 4pm on Friday – one of the busiest times at the local Target outlet.
It knocked over clothes racks before coming to a stop about 20 metres into the store.
Ernest, who was visiting Castlemaine from Melbourne, was about 50 metres away when the crash occurred.
He said there were dozens of school children nearby and it was a miracle that no one was seriously hurt.
“I heard a massive bang, then another one, and another one, we all had no idea what was going on,” Ernest said.
“People ran down to help, I saw clothes hooks on the ground, fixtures damaged and the doors smashed, someone could have been killed.
“Then you could see the car well inside the store.”
Police and ambulance attended, but Acting Sergeant David Semmens said there were no injuries.
“One elderly male driver was treated at the scene,” he said.
“It appears the car has lurched forward from its parking space and crashed through the glass doors at a business on Mostyn Street.”
Another Mostyn Street building struck
Remarkably, Target was not the only Mostyn Street business to be struck by a vehicle on Friday.
Six hours later, a different vehicle collided with the front of Stonemans BookRoom about 100 metres away from Target.
Acting Sergeant Semmens said a 19-year-old male driver was attempting to park on Mostyn Street about 10pm when he misjudged the park and collided with the front of the shop.
He also avoided injury, but the building sustained several thousand dollars worth of damage to a front veranda and windows.
Police said alcohol and drugs were not factors in either crash.