By Khalida Sarwari
A man accidentally stepped on the gas pedal of his car and drove through the front of a San Jose 7-Eleven store this morning, police spokesman Officer Jose Garcia said.
The crash happened around 11 a.m. at the 7-Eleven store at Stevens Creek Boulevard and North Cypress Avenue, Garcia said.
When officers arrived, they found the driver, a 55-year-old San Jose resident, sitting in a gray 2004 Toyota Camry inside the store, Garcia said.
He told officers he had accidentally stepped on the accelerator, Garcia said.
The driver and the three employees inside the business were uninjured.
Officers determined the man was not driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and he was not cited.
Store owner Raj Kaur said she was in the back room doing some paperwork when the crash happened.
“I just heard a lot of noise, kind of rattling,” she said. “I was wondering, is there an earthquake, or what?”
She came out to the front and saw the car, which had driven through three aisles and into the coffee bar.
Kaur said the driver stayed put after the crash, partly because the glass double doors were on top of the car.
She spoke with him afterward, she said.
“He said he was just coming to get some water, he was feeling thirsty,” Kaur said.
She said the driver told her that as he pulled up to the store, he got a phone call and had tried to hit the brakes so he could answer the phone but had stepped on the gas instead.
After speaking with police, the driver left in a cab, Kaur said. His car has been removed from the store but remained in the parking lot this afternoon.
The store’s windows have been boarded up, and the store will remain closed until Saturday.