I think maybe we're going to have to hold Grump Therapy somewhere else this week.
Here's a few photos of MY STARBUCKS. The window we usually sit by:
The chair I usually sit in:
That is, when we're not sitting in the back corner.
Here are the stories from several local news sources (somewhat conflicting, though they may be):
KIRO 7: Car Crashes Through Starbucks, Injuring 5
BELLINGHAM, Wash. -- Five people were hurt when a parked car lurched forward, crashed through the window of a Bellingham Starbucks and came to rest against the store's back wall, reported KIRO 7 Eyewitness News.
At 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, the 70-year-old driver of a rental car pulled up to the coffee shop on West Bakerview Road. The man said he was parking and before he could get out, the car lurched forward and crashed through the Starbucks.
The Bellingham Fire Department transported five people to the hospital. The extent of their injuries was not immediately known.
The driver from Arlington, Texas was OK.
Police are investigating the incident.
KING 5: Car crashes into Starbucks, injuring 5 people
BELLINGHAM, Wash. – A car crashed into a Starbucks Tuesday morning, sending five people to the hospital with minor injuries.
The crash happened around 10:30 a.m. on Baker Road near Interstate 5.
Police say the driver, a Texas man in his 60's, was unfamiliar with the rental car and accidentally hit the gas pedal instead of the brake and went into the store.
Witnesses describe a sound like an explosion as the car crashed into the building. It sent glass, cups of coffee and furniture flying as patrons tried to get out of the way.
The driver was not hurt, but the five people who were injured were taken to St. Joseph's Hospital for bumps and bruises.
When the victims arrived at the hospital, nurses weren't aware they actually needed treatment. Apparently, they thought it was part of a disaster drill.
No decision has been made on possible charges against the driver.
KOMO 4: 5 injured when car crashes through Bellingham Starbucks
BELLINGHAM, Wash. -- Five people were injured Tuesday morning when a car smashed through the front of a Starbucks store.
Lt. Steve Felmley said the 70-year-old man was pulling into the store parking lot at 1031 W. Bakerview Road around 9:30 when his Chrysler 300M accelerated and crashed through the front window of the building.
Five customers -- four women and a man -- were injured. One of the women was pinned against a wall, and all five have been taken to a local hospital.
None of the injuries was believed to be life-threatening.
The impact sent glass, furniture and debris flying through the store as the car careened through the store and into the back wall, causing it to partially collapse.
Dr. Don Stevens was inside the store and said he didn't even see the car coming.
"We were sitting at one of the tables here and heard this horrible crash," he said. "The lady that I was with, the car hit her chair and sent her flying to the floor."
Stevens said when the car hit the back wall the tires were still spinning.
"It happened very, very quickly," he said.
The driver was not seriously injured. Police said he is from Arlington, Texas and was visiting family in the area.
The driver told investigators the car was a rental and he doesn't know what happened to cause him to crash through the store.
"He said the car was just running and wouldn't stop," Felmley said. "He had no explanation as to why that occurred.
"He's very sorry this happened. He's glad the injuries weren't more serious."
The Bellingham Herald: 5 hurt when car smashes into Bakerview Starbucks
BELLINGHAM — UPDATED AT 12:01 P.M. — A parked car lurched forward and smashed through the plate glass window of the Starbucks at 1031 W. Bakerview Road this morning, injuring five people before coming to rest against the back wall of the coffee shop’s seating area.
There was no immediate word on the seriousness of the injuries, but they did not appear life-threatening. All the victims were conscious.
Four people were taken to St. Joseph Hospital by ambulance, and a fifth person with a cut on her wrist was taken to the hospital by her husband after medics gave her first aid at the scene. No identities were available.
Starbucks employees said they could not comment.
Bellingham Police Chief Todd Ramsay said the late-model gray Chrysler 300 was a rental car being driven by a Texas man. Officers were interviewing the driver at the scene, and no decision had yet been made on what, if any, charges the driver will face.
In the aftermath, the inside of the coffee shop was strewn with chunks of glass, upended furniture, spilled coffee and drops of blood.
Ashley Myers of Bellingham said she was waiting for her cup of coffee near the counter when the accident occurred.
"All of a sudden the car went through the glass and through the lobby clear to the far wall," Myers said. "There was one guy pinned to the wall. It knocked people out of the way."
Ingrid Martens of Bellingham was sitting with her two-year-old son in another seating area closer to the counter and away from the impact. She said the crash sounded like an explosion.
"It picked up a couple of people in their chairs and just threw them against the wall," Martens said. "Luckily, nobody was under the car … It was kind of miraculous."
One man inside the coffee shop briefly lost sight of his little girl when the car smashed through, and was in a brief panic until he realized his wife had grabbed the child and pulled her out of the way, Martens said. The man declined to be interviewed.
Martens said the driver of the car immediately got out and began helping the bystanders assisting the victims. "He was really shaken up," Martens said.
Psychologist Donald Stevens was sitting at a window table with a woman he was interviewing for a job. Stevens said the onrushing car knocked the woman out of her chair, toppled their coffee cups, and sprayed both of them with chunks of shattered glass. The woman, who declined to give her name, was the one who suffered a cut wrist.
"It was a scary experience," Stevens said. "He hit the wall, and the tires were still spinning."
And one more photo:
