Driver who left giant hole inTrue Value Hardware didn’t get injured, but he did get charged with DUI and destruction of property.
Have you ever heard of a drive-through hardware store? No? Neither have we. That’s because they don’t exist. But a man in Virginia recently created one with his 2016 Ford F-150 4X4. The hard way.
Citing information from Neal White, the chief of police in Berryville, Virginia, The Winchester Star reports that a 25-year-old named Joel R. Bretzin plowed through the right wing of a True Value Hardware while behind the wheel of his Blue Oval truck on Sunday, December 22.
Bretzin was the only person in his F-150 at the time of the impact. It occurred at 1:16 in the morning so no one was in the store to get injured. From what we can see, the F-150 doesn’t look all that bad considering it…you know…drove through a freakin’ wall. Bretzin emerged from the chaos unscathed; White said he didn’t mention having any injuries when emergency personnel examined him. Bretzin will live to endure a different kind of pain, though. After he was arrested, he was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol and the destruction of property.
Unfortunately, the building itself didn’t fare as well. Doug Bowen, the owner of the Berryville True Value Hardware store, said the accident took out one of his building’s support columns. White estimates that Bretzin did at least $10,000 in damages. “It’s a mess. The whole right side got crushed,” Bowen said.
The day after the crash, an engineer started working on plans to shift the weight of the roof that was no longer being held up by the destroyed load-bearing column. Bowen said, “It really is a liability issue. Is the roof and the rest of the structure going to come down over that section?”
It’s a horrible situation that could’ve ended much worse than it did. We’re glad that everyone’s OK. But given how hardworking Ford trucks are, there’s a good chance Bowen will be seeing more of them at the site of the crash – this time helping in the reconstruction instead of the destruction of his store.
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
