Sonoma Police and the California Highway Patrol are investigating an early morning crash Thursday at the fig pantry on East Napa Street in which the driver retrieved one clue and left another.
“One of the guys in the cottages came out, saw the guy stumbling down the street,” said maintenance man Justin Toulze, adding that, “He came back, got his jacket and walked down Eighth Street East. The actual bumper and license plate is still inside.”
Sonoma County Sheriff’s Lt. Scott Dunn could offer little comment at presstime but acknowledged that the suspect vehicle, a black 2007 Dodge Charger, had been reported as stolen. “Events are unfolding, and so we don’t have a lot of details to provide,” Dunn said late Thursday morning.
The car was traveling north on Eighth Street East around 1:20 a.m. and failed to stop at the intersection, according to the CHP. No skid marks were visible on the roadway. The impact shattered the front wall of the pantry’s delicatessen – on the right side facing the building – scattering equipment and food throughout the building’s interior, knocking the front door in, too, but leaving the main market itself almost untouched. Curious neighbors and patrons stopped by to inquire, one taking a cellphone picture of the damage.
A sign on the market door said the business would be closed indefinitely. Pantry partner John Toulze, supervising the cleanup, said a structural engineer would assess the damage but that the outlook wasn’t inspiring. “The deli accounts for half our business,” he said. “We don’t know when or in what capacity we’ll reopen.”
Deli section at fig pantry, after removal of sedan. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Sonoma Police at 996-3602.
