A La Vista skate shop is closed until further notice after police say an alleged drunk driver plowed into the front of the store overnight, leaving the building's foundation damaged and city officials calling it structurally unsafe. Brothers Levi Miles and Jake Petry, who own B&B Skate Shop on Harrison Street, say they got the call from La Vista police at about 1 a.m. Tuesday telling them a vehicle had hit the store.
Police identified the driver as Thomas M. Thompson, who was taken into custody and arrested for DUI and careless driving, according to KETV. Miles said police told him Thompson first crashed into a Casey's gas station before crossing 72nd Street and hitting the front of B&B Skate Shop. The crash left the shop's entryway in ruins and its foundation in need of full replacement, according to Miles.
Front Wall and Foundation Destroyed
“We lost the whole front of our shop,” Miles said, describing damage severe enough that the city of La Vista deemed the building structurally unsafe to occupy. The shop estimates about $7,000 worth of damage on top of the foundation repairs, and the impact also wrecked the store's indoor mini ramp. “We did get a lot of damage to our mini ramp,” Miles said.
La Vista’s code defines a building or structure as unsafe when an enforcement official determines that a violation of adopted building or fire-safety codes poses a significant risk of harm to people or property. That standard provides local context for the city’s decision to bar occupancy while the shop’s damaged foundation and entrance are assessed and repaired. La Vista’s unsafe-building provision makes public safety—not simply the cost or inconvenience of repairs—the central concern.
Beyond the structural toll, the crash cost the shop part of its retail inventory. Shoes and shirts inside were ruined simply from the mess the wreck left behind. “We did lose some inventory with our shoes and shirts just because of how dirty they got,” Miles said.
Brothers Behind the Shop Look to Keep Skating Alive
Miles and Petry opened B&B Skate Shop four years ago, building it into a gathering spot for Omaha-area skaters complete with an indoor public half pipe. With the Harrison Street location now closed indefinitely, the brothers say they intend to stay connected to the community through pop-up events rather than go dark while repairs are sorted out.
The group’s work also extends beyond festivals: SkateFest Omaha runs Sk8 Skool, a public skateboarding program hosted at local parks, and lists two free, dawn-to-dusk pocket parks in Omaha. Those programs offer some ways for residents to keep skating even as B&B’s indoor ramp is inaccessible during repairs. The shop’s pop-up plans, meanwhile, give the brothers a way to stay visible among local skaters without reopening the damaged storefront. SkateFest’s park-based Sk8 Skool is one part of that year-round presence.
SkateFest Omaha has a broader community mission than hosting a single competition: it says it uses skateboarding and creative programs to support youth, underserved communities and local small businesses. The festival’s roots go back to a 2021 event that received a $1,105 community-building mini-grant from One Omaha. Today, its events bring together skating, art, youth workshops and local vendors, making B&B’s planned pop-up part of a larger effort to connect Omaha-area skaters and businesses. The festival’s first-event grant helped launch that work.
That plan kicks off this weekend. B&B Skate Shop is set to hold its first pop-up at Skatefest Omaha, running from noon to 9 p.m. Saturday at the James F. Lynch Skate Park near Martha Street. Miles said the shop will keep showing up for the skating community even while its storefront sits closed.
