AUBURN — Fire and rescue personnel responded to the Walmart parking lot on Mount Auburn Avenue just after noon Monday when an vehicle struck a parked SUV so hard it went under it.
Police said Doris Galarneau, 83, was helped by a passerby from her Honda CR-V, uninjured, after the Honda Pilot on top of her vehicle was stabilized.
“It is still under investigation,” Auburn Deputy Police Chief Timothy A. Cougle said Monday afternoon. “It appears at this point there was a situation where she tried to pull into a parking place and hit the brake and probably hit the accelerator, which of course accelerated (the car) across the parking lot striking six different vehicles.”
According to Cougle, “She struck the shopping cart corral in the parking lot, pushed that across the lot. That made contact with some of those vehicles. We are still sorting all the details out, but there is a total of seven vehicles involved — two significantly damaged or totaled. No injuries, thankfully. No one was injured in any of this.”
Lonita Drakus of Wales, the owner of the parked Honda Pilot, said she was shopping when the Honda CR-V hit it. “I’m still in shock,” she said.
Cougle noted, “We believe it is a case of operator error. We will be talking to witnesses and reviewing parking lot video before any determination is made.”


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