PALMETTO – The Palmetto Police Department is looking for the driver who crashed his car into the side of a building on 8th Avenue West in Palmetto early Sunday morning.
“At approximately 2:35 a.m. a witness saw a Chevy SUV proceeding north bound on 8th Ave,” said Sgt. Michael Kelly. “The vehicle veered off the road way into a row of bushes.”
Sgt. Kelly says the driver then crashed into the side of an unoccupied building with more than half of the car ending up in the building. Sgt Kelly says the vehicle is a pink 1995 Chevrolet SUV, a witness who saw the crash tells Palmetto Police the driver ran off before she arrived to help.
“The witness turned her car around to try to help the crash victims and by the time she got on scene the driver had fled the scene, she never actually saw the driver,” said Sgt. Kelly
Manatee County Building and Development officials reports the building’s exterior structure has been damaged and have deemed it unsafe for anyone to occupy the area. Parts of the inside of the building were also damaged leaving a pile of rubble on the floor.
Sgt Kelly says it’s too early in the investigation to determine if the crash was caused by the driver being under the influence of drugs and alcohol. Palmetto Police is asking id the community has any information to call them or crime stoppers.
At this time no reports of injuries have been released. Palmetto police are still investigating.
