CAR HITS BUILDING ON BROADWAY

An car driven by an elderly Cape Girardeau woman swerved from the road at high speed and crashed into the side of a building in Broadway Wednesday, Cape Girardeau police said.

It appeared the car actually was partially deflected from the building by a sign pole located just outside. The car, which was totaled, knocked the pole into the building, smashing bricks loose.

Genevieve Angle, 1720 Independence, told police she was driving east on Broadway about 12:30 p.m. when her "it felt like" her brakes went out on her car, causing her to deviate off the road and into the building housing SEMO Video, a video rental store, and Image Plus, a hair salon, at 1031 Broadway.

Angle's husband, Jessee Angle, was the only passenger. Upon impact, his head went into the windshield. Both were bleeding when they were taken on stretchers in an ambulance to Southeast Missouri Hospital's emergency room where they were treated and later released. According to police, both were wearing seatbelts.

Cindi Murphy of Thebes, Ill., was going back to her car in front of SEMO Video when she witnessed the accident.

"She was coming down Broadway and came across and hit the side of the building," Murphy said. Murphy called the ambulance from the video store.

Limint Chen was working at SEMO Video when she felt the car crash into the building.

"I heard a big boom," Chen said, throwing out her hands for emphasis. "I didn't know what it was."

Genevieve Angle gave a brief statement to police, who were on the scene.

"She said she tried to slow down, but she felt like she didn't have any brakes," said Don Hellwege, a patrolman with Cape Girardeau's traffic division.

Brenda Strop owns the building and runs Image Plus.

"It sounded like a barrel fell of the roof," she said. She said she doesn't yet know the extent of the damage, internal or external, that the crash has caused but will be looking into the matter.

Mike Garnett rents the upstairs of the building and he said he saw the wreck through a window as he was coming down the stairs to check his mail.

"I'm looking down the steps and I see this car ... and it hits the corner of the building," he said. "I thought it may have hit further up and went in the actual building.

"It was lucky for me that it didn't ... lucky for all of us."

Genevieve Angle's son, Larry Drum, said his mother and step-father were fine Wednesday evening.

"They were shook up and cut up but they were all right," Drum said. He added that his mother really isn't sure what caused her to lose control of the car.

City inspector Steve Higgerson surveyed the damage, which he called moderate.