Accident leaves SUV, Subaru and mailbox in precarious position

A SUV was suspended on top of a blue metal mailbox after it rolled out of a parking lot and flew off a rock retaining wall onto 76th Avenue S.E. just before 3 p.m. last Friday. The car smashed onto the roof of a parked car just below the True Value Parking lot in the Town Center.

November 4, 2008 3:16 pm
A BMW sport utility vehicle rests on top of a U.S. Postal Service mailbox and a parked Subaru after driving over a parking lot retaining wall along 76th Avenue S.E. in the Town Center on Halloween. Go to page A7 for the full story.
A BMW sport utility vehicle rests on top of a U.S. Postal Service mailbox and a parked Subaru after driving over a parking lot retaining wall along 76th Avenue S.E. in the Town Center on Halloween. Go to page A7 for the full story.

A SUV was suspended on top of a blue metal mailbox after it rolled out of a parking lot and flew off a rock retaining wall onto 76th Avenue S.E. just before 3 p.m. last Friday. The car smashed onto the roof of a parked car just below the True Value Parking lot in the Town Center.

According to a report on the city’s Web site, the driver of the black BMW SUV inadvertently pushed the accelerator pedal instead of the brake, causing the vehicle to lunge forward and over the retaining wall.

Dozens of bystanders gathered around the scene and snapped photographs while police interviewed witnesses and firefighters blocked the street. According to witnesses, the driver of the car seemed “OK,” despite what looked and sounded like a severe crash. Two witnesses contacted the Reporter to share what they saw and heard. Katie McFarland and Anthony Pedreira, a sixth-grader at Islander Middle School, were heading to True Value when the accident took place.

“It was extremely loud,” said McFarland, who was just getting out of her car when she heard the crash. “It was like a tree falling. I immediately thought of Anthony and had to check on him because it sounded like it could have been anywhere.”

Pedreira said he saw the accident and watched as the SUV “bounced up” and landed on top of the Subaru and mailbox.

“I wondered if anybody was hurt and thought of the coincidence that it was Halloween,” Pedreira said of his immediate reaction.

McFarland said she saw the driver get out and “couldn’t believe” that she was not injured, given the sounds and sights of the crash.

Mercer Island Police Detective Jeff Magnan said that the woman driving the SUV was treated at the scene by Island firefighters and was cleared to go home.

The SUV did not seem badly damaged, but the roof of the white Subaru was completely collapsed from the impact of the SUV. As it was suspended above the damaged car, exhaust continued to bellow out of the tailpipe of the SUV. It appeared that a parked red Oldsmobile sedan in the parking lot was also damaged in the accident. Scratches and dents ran along the entire driver’s side, and a mirror was lying next to it on the ground.

The U.S. Postal Service responded to the accident as well, securing the mail contained in the damaged mail box.