Truck slams through side of Vanderbilt Post Office during police chase, officials say
A truck slammed through the side of the Post Office branch located in Vanderbilt Borough, Fayette County during a police chase early Tuesday morning.
Fayette County dispatchers say the crash happened just before 1:45 a.m. at the Post Office location along Liberty Street.
State police say this all started with a traffic violation. They had tried to pull the driver over. Fire crews said the driver barreled down Walnut Street, hitting a sign and a mailbox before slamming into the post office. The driver left behind a trail of damaged cars and broken taillights.
The building was heavily damaged with a large hole left in the corner. A large crack along the side of the front of the building was growing in size early Tuesday morning.
"You can see they actually rode on top of my fence," neighbor Margie Adams said.
Adams said she was getting ready to go to bed when, "All of a sudden I heard this crunch and I was like, 'oh my god, they hit my vehicle!'" she said.
Adams said her Toyota 4Runner is 27 years old.
"It only has 138,000 miles on it," she said.
Neighbor Dave Capella said he was sleeping when the crash happened.
"Fell asleep on the couch watching TV – and next thing I know, neighbor comes in and says there's a wreck out there," Capella said. "Somebody hit the post office."
Dave Capella says the crash damaged his shed too. His surveillance camera caught the driver running away.
"I see all the buds flying off the tree, it's like snowing in the camera, then I see a guy hoofing it through my patio," he said.
While Adams says her car is the only means of transportation, she's glad the trail of destruction didn't include her house.
"I just got up, and thank God it hit my fence and it hit my vehicle," she said.
The postmaster from the Vanderbilt Post Office tells KDKA-TV that the Postal Service will make sure the building is secure and that they will make sure someone gets any mail that's inside.
Any incoming mail to the Vanderbilt Post Office will be diverted to the Dawson Post Office, which is about 2 miles down the road, the postmaster said.
Pennsylvania State Police troopers out of the Uniontown barracks are leading the response and investigation into the crash.
