At approximately 8 am we received several 911 calls reporting that a car had accelerated through the parking lot of the Stop & Shop Plaza located at 265 Main Street and crashed through a fence and came to rest in a wooded area.
NRPD officers were already on scene investigating a report of a suspicious male who was observed sleeping behind the building when the crash occurred. Officers were able to quickly assist the operator of the crashed vehicle out of her vehicle and to safety. The operator of that vehicle was later transported to the hospital by the North Reading Fire Department.
During the on scene investigation, officers determined that the involved vehicle has been in a minor collision with another vehicle while exiting the parking area at the main exit, and that after that contact, the vehicle accelerated through the parking lot at a high rate of speed, for a distance of approximately 200 yards, during which the vehicle struck and damaged numerous other parked vehicles before driving through a fence, nearly missing several trees, and coming to rest in a stream.
Officers were able to locate all of the owners of the parked, damaged vehicles for notification purposes. The cause of the crash remains under investigation.