Springdale vet clinic stays open after suspected drunken driver crashes into it

Police believe alcohol may have been a factor when an SUV crashed into a veterinary office in Springdale over the weekend.

Springdale police Chief George Polnar said a 2005 Ford Explorer crashed through the entrance of River Valley Veterinary Hospital on Pittsburgh Street just after midnight Sunday.

He said the driver suffered minor injuries and charges are pending the results of a blood alcohol test. The crash remains under investigation.

“We believe he may (have been) intoxicated,” Polnar said.

Polnar declined to release the driver’s name until charges are filed.

Bretta Sullivan, a receptionist at River Valley, said the veterinary hospital was open for business Monday.

“It doesn’t stop us,” she said.

Sullivan said most of the damage was confined to the waiting area and front entrance. No equipment used to treat animals was damaged, and no animals are kept in the building overnight.

The veterinary hospital posted signs instructing customers to enter through the back of the building.

This is the second time a vehicle has crashed into the building in recent years. A Springdale Township police car crashed into it 2015.

Sullivan said this weekend’s crash was worse.

Another business down the street, From Italy restaurant, also was crashed into in 2017.

Polnar said the crashes appear to be isolated incidents, and there are no plans to install any kind of barrier or request a traffic study.

“It’s something we may consider somewhere down the road,” he said.

He said the speed limit drops from 45 miles an hour to 25 miles an hour when drivers cross over into the borough from Springdale Township. He said sometimes drivers don’t realize the change in speed limit or don’t pay attention to it, which can lead to crashes.