NATIONAL CITY, Calif. — A car that plowed into a Discount Tire store in National City Tuesday evening sent at least three people to an area hospital.
National City Fire Department was called to the 1300 block of Plaza Boulevard around 3:30 p.m. following reports that a car had crashed into a store.
"Officers received numerous calls of a vehicle that collided into Discount Tire, a building on East Plaza Boulevard," said Seargant Paul Hernandez with National City police.
Authorities said the driver of an older model Toyota RAV4 left the roadway, hitting a pedestrian, before crashing into the Discount Tire store, where the SUV also hit an employee working at a desk inside the location.
Officers applied a tourniquet to the pedestrian's arm, which was "profusely bleeding" due to being hit by the SUV.
Video from OnScene.TV showed blood that trailed from the sidewalk to inside the tire store.
The pedestrian was taken to an area hospital with major injuries.
"As we were sitting in the lobby, a car came crashing through the window and smacked into the wall," said Benjamin Gonzalez, who was at the tire shop then.
Gonzalez said the entire situation was shocking and scary.
An employee who was hit while on the job at Discount Tire was evaluated at a hospital for his injuries.
The SUV driver was treated at the scene and then taken to an area hospital for further evaluation.
The cause of the crash is under investigation.
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