A white Lexus SUV tore through the front window of a packed beauty salon on North Maple Avenue in Ridgewood Thursday morning, plowing past chairs and clients before coming to a stop inside the building. Despite the salon being full of people at the time, no one inside was hurt, and the driver reportedly refused medical attention at the scene.
The crash happened around 11 a.m. Thursday, and the driver was from Fair Lawn, according to Patch, which identified the business as Tapestry Hairdressing Salon. The outlet reported that the driver told police the crash happened after accidentally hitting the gas instead of the brake while parking, and that no summonses were issued in connection with the incident.
Photos from the scene, first reported by Boyd A. Loving according to Ridgewood Daily Voice, show the white Lexus wound up fully inside the salon rather than simply clipping the storefront. The scene drew a sizable multi-agency response: Ho-Ho-Kus police and firefighters, Ridgewood police and fire/EMS crews, a Ridgewood building inspector and Bergen County Sheriff's Office personnel all responded, the outlet's report noted. A flatbed tow truck eventually pulled the Lexus free from the heavily damaged salon and hauled it away from North Maple Avenue.
Storefront Left in Ruins
The scale of the damage became clear in photos described by NorthJersey.com, which reported that the vehicle tore through the storefront, knocking down chairs and scattering debris before coming to rest after striking an interior support column. Shattered glass covered the floor and chunks of brick lay strewn across the sidewalk outside, the outlet reported. The same report referred to the business as a nail salon, a discrepancy in naming that has not been resolved across the various accounts of the crash.
Cause Still Being Sorted Out
Exactly what triggered the crash remains something of a muddle between the available reports. One account described the cause as still under investigation by Ridgewood police, while the driver's own explanation, relayed separately, was that the vehicle lurched forward when the gas pedal was pressed instead of the brake during parking. Neither version has been independently confirmed beyond what each outlet reported, and no summonses were issued as of Thursday.
For now, the remarkable detail in an otherwise chaotic scene is that a packed salon full of stylists and clients walked away without a scratch. The driver, too, avoided injury seriously enough to decline medical treatment on site, leaving crews to focus on clearing the wreckage and securing the damaged storefront rather than tending to victims.
