Employee Trapped Under Vehicle, 'Catastrophic' Damage To UPS Store In Shorewood: Fire Official

SHOREWOOD, IL — One employee who was inside The UPS Store in Shorewood along Route 52/Jefferson Street was very seriously injured when a sports utility vehicle plowed into the store in reverse, according to Troy Fire Protection District officials. Fire Lt. Niko Rousonelos called the incident "catastrophic." He said that Troy Fire was notified of the incident around 2:30 p.m.

Troy's firefighters found a vehicle had gone into the UPS Store, and one of the persons inside the store was trapped underneath the vehicle. He said it took firefighters about 20 minutes to extricate the person. The injured woman was then rushed to St. Joe's Hospital in serious condition.

Subscribe

"We don't know if the vehicle malfunctioned or there was a medical emergency with the driver," Rousonelos explained.

Shorewood Police Chief Phil Arnold issued a press release around 4:30 p.m., notifying news media outlets that just after 2:30 p.m., the Shorewood Police Department and Troy Fire
Protection District responded to the UPS Store, located at 1133 West Jefferson Street for a vehicle that had struck the storefront.

Arnold said the emergency responders determined that a vehicle had backed through the storefront, subsequently striking and pinning an employee that was inside the business underneath it.

Personnel from the Troy Fire Protection District
extricated the employee from beneath the vehicle and transported the person to Prime Healthcare Saint Joseph Medical Center in Joliet, with what are believed to be lower-extremity injuries.

The driver and passenger of the vehicle were evaluated by Troy Fire Protection District emergency medical personnel. The passenger declined further medical treatment and was released at the scene. Arnold said the driver was taken to
Saint Joseph Medical Center with injuries that are currently unknown; however, the driver was conscious and able to communicate with responders at the scene, the police chief said.

The vehicle was removed from the storefront and the building is being evaluated by the Village of Shorewood Building Department to assess the extent of structural damage. The crash remains under investigation by the Shorewood Police Department.

Both Shorewood Police and village of Shorewood building officials were on the scene assessing damage to The UPS Store, which may need to be closed for several days now.

"There is significant damage. I'm sure the store will have to close for some time," the Troy Fire official remarked.