Pedal mix-up leads to bakery crash

A 20-year-old Santa Rosa woman Sunday crashed into a Montgomery Village bakery, Santa Rosa police officials said.

Yolanda Perez told police she accidentally hit the accelerator instead of the brake pedal as she parked at the Santa Rosa mall just before 2:30 p.m., Sgt. Phil Brazis said.

By chance, Michelle Marie's Patisserie closed that day for renovations and no customers were inside, Santa Rosa Fire Battalion Chief Mark Basque said.

Remodeling crews at work were uninjured, Basque said.

The black four-door Lexus crashed into a square support beam at about 2:30 p.m. on Magowan Drive, Basque said.

Nearby customers and workers heard "a big boom," said Nancy Dupont, owner of Reverie Baby next door.

"I was working in my office," Dupont said. "At first I thought a shelf was falling."

The Lexus knocked the beam down, blasted through a potted tree and crashed into a front right window of the bakery.

Shattered glass littered the ground.

Customers and staff at the village's Memorial Day sidewalk sale marveled at the drooping roof where the beam stood moments before.

Fire crews brought wood to prop up the roof until village staff rebuild permanent reinforcements.

You can reach Staff Writer Julie Johnson at 521-5220 or julie.johnson@pressdemocrat.com.