By By ROBERT BLANKENSHIP – Managing Editor
Two accidents over the past month has some local residents wondering if the Living Word Bookstore may have opened a drive through. The store has been severely damaged twice during that time as vehicles jumped the curb and drove through the front walls.
On Monday, a 1992 Nissan pick-up truck, driven by Charles Morris, 75, of Brewton, drove through the glass front wall of the Living Word Caf, which is adjacent to the Living Word Bookstore.
Police were called to the scene at approximately 10:44 a.m. Officials said there were no injuries as a result of the accident, but that Morris was transported by relatives to the hospital as a precautionary measure.
This accident came less than a month after a 1994 Dodge Dakota, driven by Jimmy Thompson, a 44-year-old, of Brewton, jumped the curb and drove through the front wall of the Living Word Bookstore. In that accident, which occurred on Dec. 17, the driver told police that his brakes failed.
Both of the accidents are still under investigation by the Brewton Police Department.
Barbara Kelley, assistant manager of The Living Word, was on duty during both accidents. She and her sister, Faye Lokey, were standing in front of the counter when the truck came through the bookstore wall in December.
Lokey did suffer some bumps and bruises after that accident, but was not seriously injured.
Neither the bookstore nor the caf was closed following the accidents. Workers are finishing up on the wall at the bookstore and new glass for the front of the caf is expected on Wednesday.
Kelley said it was fortunate that nobody was hurt in Monday's accident. Each Monday morning, a non-denominational Bible study class is held at the caf.
While it may be some time before the caf is back at 100 percent, Kelley said they are open for business.
Kelley said she did not think that the accidents hurt business as much as it could have.