About 1:30 p.m. Saturday, a white Ford F-150 pickup smashed through both of the north entrance glass doors of Wal-Mart, clipping the makeup aisle and demolishing the jewelry counter.
Sunday, the area was blocked off by shelving, plywood and police tape. Clothing racks and boxes of rugs filled the area that was once a glass jewelry display and a sign hung by the photo counter reading, “unsure when the equipment will be up and running again. We hope soon but it may take us longer.”
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Besides the physical damage, the incident sent approximately nine people, including the driver, to the hospital, said Montrose City Police Chief Tom Chinn.
The driver was 58-year-old Montrose resident Joe Szymanoski, who was identified by his daughter, Sheila Garrison.
Garrison said three months ago, Szymanoski suffered a massive heart attack and had open heart surgery and a quadruple bypass. He had moved to Montrose six weeks ago to be closer to his family and Sheila, who is a nurse.
“He has been healing slowly and was waiting to see if he needed an internal cardiac defibrillator. What happened today proved that he does,” she said, and added that he was not told not to drive.
Witnesses of the incident said they saw Szymanoski in his car slumped back on his seat and his mouth agape right before the truck struck the front entrance. They also stated that the truck’s accelerator was floored by that time.
Garrison said Szymanoski was very upset this morning and concerned for those injured. “I want them to know that he would never hurt anyone intentionally and that he is a good, caring and kind person,” she said.
Two engines and three ambulances were dispatched, said Montrose Fire Protection District Battalion Chief Allen Weese.
“I think we were all expecting to see a lot more casualties and fatalities as a result of something like this just because of the nature of what occurred,” Chinn said. “We are all very fortunate that we didn’t have more injured then we had.”
Chinn said that the Montrose Police Department had most everyone working at the scene. He said some off-duty officers who were shopping also responded, along with the Colorado State Patrol and Montrose County Sheriff’s Office.
Garrison said her father suffered a massive heart attack and only remembers backing out of the parking space to come home. She was told that two off-duty officers pulled his foot off the accelerator and performed CPR. She said someone else grabbed a defibrillator, all of which “saved his life.”
Wal-Mart spokeswoman Sharon Weber said some associates were treated and released from the hospital. One associate is still being treated, she said, and is expected to recover.
Chinn did not release the names of those injured by press time.
Another Wal-Mart employee said she was at the hospital for non-related reasons when her co-workers were brought in. There were three females behind the glass counters of the jewelry department at the time of the accident, she said, adding that one woman suffered minor lacerations across the back, another had stitches and another had a broken pelvis and an ankle injury.
Szymanoski had not been released from the hospital as of 6 p.m. Sunday, according to Montrose Memorial Hospital. However, the hospital would not release his condition.
Garrison did say that her father was in critical condition in the ICU at Montrose Memorial Hospital. She is hoping they will be able to fly him to Colorado Springs today to install the internal defibrillator.
Wal-Mart will remain open during the construction, said Weber, and currently employees are “just trying to get back to normal.”
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Daily Press Writers Robert Allen and Lisa Huynh contributed to this story.
Contact Kati O’Hare via e-mail at katio@montrosepress.com
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