MOUNT VERNON – The owner of Professional Pet Grooming in Mount Vernon doesn’t plan to let a truck crashing into the building he’s been renovating stop his plans to move his salon from his home to the building, but he’s uncertain how long the opening will be delayed.
The Knox County Sheriff’s Office said deputies tried to stop a Dodge Dakota for a traffic violation on North Gay Street in Mount Vernon early on Christmas Eve. But the vehicle fled the scene with officers in pursuit.
The pickup truck crashed into the future home of Professional Pet Grooming, causing $30,000 to $40,000 in damages, business owner David Ulery-Hart told the Mount Vernon News on Monday.
The vehicle’s occupants were allegedly juveniles. They were allegedly returned to the custody of their parents.
The Sheriff’s Office is continuing its investigation with criminal charges possible.
“When I saw it my heart just dropped. It was just devastating to come down the street and see all the fire trucks and ambulances and then to see the back end of a truck hanging out in my lobby,” Ulery-Hart said.
He planned to have renovations completed to open in May. But with this setback, he’s not sure when that will happen.
The costs to fix the damages will come back to him and the building owner. He said the building was insured, but the driver of the vehicle wasn’t insured. An insurance adjuster was in touch with Ulery-Hart and the building owner on Monday.
It was an empty building and the crash happened around 3 a.m., so no one was hurt inside.
“I'm not gonna be defeated by this; it's just another setback,” he said.
He called the whole thing disgusting. Everything comes back to his insurance, so he and the building owner are paying for somebody else’s mistake.
Ulery-Hart said he’s trying to do the renovations as a small business owner on his own.
“I'm trying to do this with without having to take out a bunch of debt in order to open up, I'm working my butt off to be able to pay for everything myself,” he said.
The crash will just set him back even further, he said.
