Man arrested after vehicle crashes into vacant Cape Girardeau storefront

A man who told police he blacked out as he was pulling into a parking lot smashed his Ford Explorer into a vacant storefront at 286 Christine St. early Monday afternoon.

Andrew D. Allen, 23, of Bragg City, Mo., was arrested on an outstanding Dunklin County warrant after the accident, said Sgt. Barry Hovis, spokesman for the Cape Girardeau Police Department.

Two workers were painting the building's awning when the accident occurred. Travis Truitt of Truitt Construction Co. said he was working on the roof when Allen hit the building. He did not see the accident, but said he felt the impact. "When he hit, I knew what had happened."

Steve Wisdom, who was also working on the painting job, said he felt lucky that the wreck took place when it did. Just an hour earlier, he said, his ladder would have been in Allen's path.

The Explorer smashed a plate-glass window and pushed material stored in the building away from the point of impact.

Officers responding to the scene determined that Allen did not appear to be intoxicated or in need of medical care before arresting him on the warrant, which was for failure to appear for a probation hearing. He told officers he blacked out as he was trying to park, Hovis said. The warrant from Dunklin County was for failure to appear on a charge of supplying alcohol to a minor, Hovis said.