Car crashes into CVS in Baldwin; building deemed structurally unsafe

A vehicle crashed into a CVS drugstore in Baldwin on Wednesday afternoon, injuring the vehicle occupants and damaging the building, Nassau police said.

The crash happened just before 5:30 p.m. when a 2027 Kia driven by a 64-year-old woman struck the wall of the building on Grand Avenue, police said.

In a phone interview, Baldwin Fire Department Captain Kevin Smith said the vehicle "didn't go fully through, but there was structural damage inside and out. ... Given the amount of damage and the way it hit the building, I would assume that, accidentally, the accelerator was hit when it shouldn't have been." 

Workers inside the building were unhurt. The driver and a 68-year-old male passenger, whom police did not identify, suffered minor injuries and were transported to a hospital for treatment, police said.

Town of Hempstead Building Department officials on Wednesday determined that the building was structurally unsafe, according to police. On Thursday morning, police tape was blocking the store's front entrance. 

The store had reopened briefly, but "the town has since advised that an emergency work permit is required before repairs can move forward," Roslyn Guarino, a CVS corporate spokesperson, wrote in an email to Newsday. 

"The store will be closed until the landlord is able to secure the permit," she added. 

There was no answer to a phone call made to the CVS on Thursday morning. A Town of Hempstead spokesperson said he had no additional information. 

Newsday's Robert Brodsky contributed to this story.

Check back for updates on this developing story.

By Nicholas Spangler

nicholas.spangler@newsday.comspanglernewsday

Nicholas Spangler is a general assignment reporter and has worked at Newsday since 2010.