A car lost control and slammed into the front of Pirate Firearms on Southeast Indian Street in Stuart around 4 p.m. Thursday, injuring the driver just as the shop's staff were preparing to close for the day. Surveillance cameras mounted outside the store captured the entire crash on video.
Shop owner Michael Counes said he and his team heard the impact before they saw it. “There was a loud bang, and then we saw a car run into the front of our building,” Counes told WPBF. According to the station's report, the driver lost control before momentum carried the vehicle into the storefront.
The Martin County Sheriff's Office responded to the scene, along with Martin County Fire Rescue and Stuart Fire Rescue. Officials said the driver was rushed to Lawnwood Hospital with traumatic injuries. The Fort Pierce facility operates the Treasure Coast's only Level II Trauma Center, according to HCA Florida Lawnwood Hospital, providing specialized emergency care for severe injuries across Martin, St. Lucie, Indian River, and Okeechobee counties.
A Familiar Hazard on Indian Street
Pirate Firearms sits at 2201 Southeast Indian Street, Suite E2, next to the B&A Flea Market entrance, according to state business records maintained by Sunbiz.org, which shows the firearms and pawn business was established as an active Florida LLC in February 2016 under Counes as registered manager. Counes said crashes in the area are not uncommon, estimating that a vehicle accident happens near his shop every four or five months, with screeches heard probably every month.
He pointed to the traffic pattern on Southeast Indian Street as part of the problem: the left lane keeps flowing while the right lane backs up, and some drivers pulling out from side streets do not pay attention to approaching vehicles. Others, he said, try to sneak out while cars are approaching. “I don't know how you fix it,” Counes said, expressing uncertainty about preventing future incidents, and he urged drivers to stay alert and be careful of people pulling out on side streets.
A Corridor With a Documented Crash History
Local traffic data backs up Counes's account of a troubled stretch of roadway. A Martin County Public Works Department Crash Surveillance Report found that the intersection of Southeast Indian Street and Southeast Aster Lane tied for the county's highest crash severity ranking after logging 13 collisions over a two-year study period, per Safe Roads USA. Separately, infrastructure planning documents from the Martin Metropolitan Planning Organization have identified Southeast Indian Street as a heavily traveled commercial corridor, and the agency has evaluated elevation and grade separation concepts at major intersections to reduce vehicle turning conflicts.
Countywide, Martin County recorded 2,912 motor vehicle traffic crashes in 2023, according to public safety data from FLHealthCHARTS, reflecting a consistent baseline of nearly 3,000 crashes a year. Statewide, Florida logged 366,300 total motor vehicle crashes in 2025, resulting in 2,930 traffic fatalities and 157,636 injury collisions, per statistics compiled by the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.
Why Storefronts Keep Taking the Hit
Vehicle-into-building collisions like the one at Pirate Firearms are far from rare in Florida. Vehicles crash into commercial or public buildings more than 60 times per day nationwide, causing roughly 500 deaths and 4,000 serious injuries annually, according to the Storefront Safety Council, which found that Florida leads the nation in both storefront crash volume and crash rates relative to licensed drivers. The same research shows driver error is the predominant cause of these crashes, with drivers 60 and older involved in 38% of them, the highest share of any age group.
Legal analysts note that commercial property owners can face premises liability claims when known traffic setups create foreseeable crash hazards, which has previously prompted state legislative proposals to fund protective safety bollards in front of retail businesses, according to the All Injuries Law Firm. It remains unclear whether Pirate Firearms has any such barriers or whether officials plan changes to the Indian Street corridor.
The official cause of Thursday's crash has not been released. Under Florida law, law enforcement traffic crash reports are exempt from public disclosure for 60 days following an incident, limiting access during that window to involved parties, their insurers, and law enforcement agencies, per the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. The driver's condition following transport to Lawnwood Hospital has not been publicly updated.
