SUV rams Menifee-Sun City chamber office

By: BRIAN ECKHOUSE - Staff Writer | Wednesday, January 31, 2007 11:49 PM PST ∞

SUN CITY ---- A sport utility vehicle driven by an elderly man crashed through the glass front of the Menifee-Sun City Chamber of Commerce's office Wednesday morning, causing $80,000 to $90,000 in damage, chamber CEO Cheryl Ferrulli said.


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Although a window washer had to jump off his ladder to avoid getting hit, no one was seriously injured, authorities said.

Driver Walter Dywan, 84, of Sun City, said he was approaching a parking spot by the chamber's headquarters when the accelerator in his silver 2003 Nissan Xtera stuck. The vehicle, he said, sped up like a bullet, jumped the curb and smashed into the office on Bradley Road.

"We were just creeping into the (parking) spot, just tried to get to the curb," he said.

His 78-year-old wife, Florence Dywan, nodded.

"It took off like an airplane," she said.

About a third of the way into the spot, the SUV began to accelerate, said California Highway Patrol Officer Harvey Ray. He said it hasn't been determined whether the accident occurred because of mechanical failure or driver's error. An hour after the incident, fresh tire marks remained on the blacktop, the curb, and on the carpet of the chamber's reception area.

"The car was peeling out," said Ray, pointing at a chunk of carpet missing from the chamber's floor.

The vehicle was going so fast, it broke the glass front, and then continued on through the office, rupturing part of its side wall separating it from an adjacent business. The strip mall in which the office is located was spared structural damage, a county buildings inspector said.

Dywan, who was not arrested, said he has a good driving record. A Nissan dealership will investigate the allegedly faulty accelerator, Ray added.

The accident could have been deadly. Fortunately for Chris McKinney, who had been washing the chamber's large glass windows, he heard the vehicle's engine rumble upon acceleration. Had he not, he could have been severely injured: The 35-year-old McKinney, who owns CJ's Window Cleaning of Sun City, had been standing on a ladder, attending to the far reaches of the window.

"I looked to my right, and heard the engine rev up," said McKinney, who lives in Sun City. "So I jumped off the ladder to the left, but the SUV clipped the ladder, which launched me farther."

McKinney laughed as he recounted the experience.

"I'm fine, just some bumps and bruises," he said, grinning.

The crash startled Linda Ashton, 50, of Sun City, who was at her desk at Help-U-Sell, two stores down from the chamber.

"I thought I heard a plane crash," the real estate agent said. "The whole building shook."

Ferrulli and chamber President Jerry Stamper were not in the office when the SUV rammed through, but membership director Joan Ring was.

Just before the accident, Ring said, she left the reception desk, and began walking down the corridor, away from the front.

"I thought, 'Oh my God!" she said.

Ring was not hurt, but her parked car, a purple 1998 Chrysler Concorde, was grazed by the SUV as it charged toward the office.

Although the building is sound, it could take three to four weeks for the glass front to be replaced and for the side wall to be repaired or rebuilt, Ferrulli said. In the interim, the chamber's employees likely will be relocated, Ferrulli said.

"We haven't made any final decision," Stamper said.

-- Contact staff writer Brian Eckhouse at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2626, or beckhouse@californian.com.