A predawn run for the restroom turned into a demolition job at a Rosenberg, Texas grocery store this weekend, according to police. Rosenberg police say a known male driver intentionally accelerated an SUV through the locked doors of a Kroger at roughly 4:28 a.m. Sunday, plowing straight into the pharmacy entrance before the sun came up.
The vehicle tore through the store's doors and came to rest inside, causing extensive damage to the pharmacy entrance, according to Chron. Police say the driver was upset that the doors were locked and needed to use the restroom, a detail that has turned an otherwise routine property-damage report into the talk of Fort Bend County.
The Kroger sits in Brazos Town Center II off U.S. Highway 59, in a stretch of Rosenberg that is not exactly starved for restroom options. A SpringHill Suites by Marriott sits across from the store, a McDonald's across the street opens at 5 a.m. daily, and Kroger itself doesn't open its doors until 6 a.m. — nearly an hour and a half after the crash reportedly happened. A 24-hour 7-Eleven was also within reach, though it's unclear whether the driver considered any of those alternatives before getting behind the wheel.
Police Urge Drivers to Just Find an Open Store
In the aftermath, Rosenberg police had some blunt advice for anyone caught in a similar bind: find a store that's actually open instead of driving into one that isn't. It's a simple enough suggestion, but one apparently prompted by a very literal, very costly failure to read a business's hours before making a beeline for its bathroom.
Kroger Crashes Have Happened Before, With Different Outcomes
Rosenberg's incident joins a small but notable list of vehicles ending up inside Kroger stores in recent years, though the circumstances and consequences have varied widely. In Millington, Tennessee, a semi-truck driver intentionally drove through a Kroger entrance shortly before midnight on a Tuesday, according to city officials cited by kark.com. Officials identified that driver as 45-year-old Clarence Carter of Nashville; employees were inside the store at the time but none were hurt, and the damaged section was later secured while the Kroger stayed open for business.
A far more tragic outcome unfolded at a Kroger on Dupont Road in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where a car accelerated rapidly from the pharmacy drive-thru before striking a stop sign, a curb and the store entrance. A passenger identified as Laura M. Miller of Fort Wayne died from multiple blunt-force injuries in that crash, which the Allen County Coroner ruled accidental, according to wane.com.
Not every grocery-store collision has been intentional. In Martinez, California, a 76-year-old woman drove into the side of a Safeway on Alhambra Avenue at about 3:45 p.m. after mistaking the gas pedal for the brake while trying to park, per SFGate. The force of that crash knocked over an ice machine inside the store, striking a 71-year-old woman who fell and hit her head; police said the driver herself was not injured and that drugs or alcohol were not believed to have played any role.
Back in Rosenberg, none of those outcomes have been confirmed one way or another. What's documented so far is limited to the police account of a locked store, an urgent need, and an SUV where the pharmacy entrance used to be.
