Bodega Country Store owner plans repairs after car crashed into building

The property owner of the Bodega Country Store said Monday he will refurbish the structure after a car slammed into it Saturday night and caused major damage.

“We want to proceed as soon as possible,” said Tom Bonfigli, who along with his sister own the building along the Bodega Highway.

Permit Sonoma informed him that the old McCaughey Bros. building was still structurally sound so that he could start repair work.

That was good news to Ariel Coddington, operator of the general store that is a hub in the west county hamlet of about 900 residents.

Coddington said she heard the crash from her home on Salmon Creek Road about a mile away. “It was so loud,” she said. “All the neighbors heard it.”

There were two aquariums inside the store and one survived as the fish was rescued. The store also housed works from local artists and just opened a deli.

“It’s really tough,” said Bradley Mills, Coddington’s partner. “We were planning a winter business expansion in November.”

The upstairs of the building housed a family and another unit is where Ed Barbera, an employee of Northern Light Surf Shop next door, lived. The owner of the surf shop was able to find him temporary housing.

Authorities are looking for a driver of a gray Jeep Cherokee who crashed into the front of the store about 9:30 p.m. Saturday and fled the scene, the California Highway Patrol said.

Witnesses told investigators that the unidentified man who was driving got out of the vehicle and left the scene, CHP Officer David deRutte said.

The unidentified woman who owns the car was in the passenger seat, but she told authorities she was driving, deRutte said. Police determined she was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol, he said. There were no injuries.

The country store, at 17190 Bodega Highway, was closed when the crash happened and nobody was inside, said Chief Ron Albini of the Bodega Volunteer Fire Department, noting the driver was likely driving too fast.

“There were lot of people in the neighborhood that night that said they heard tires squealing, like somebody was trying to make it around the corner, and then the loud crash,” Albini said.

The speed limit is set at 25 mph through Bodega though a Press Democrat reporter witnessed many cars seemingly going faster than that on Monday afternoon.

“We get the occasional 35 mph cars, and every once in a while you’ll get somebody that’s just driving dangerously and going way too fast,” Albini said.

You can reach Staff Writer Matt Pera at matthew.pera@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @Matt__Pera.