Hit-and-run leaves hole in Legion
The wall inside Carmichaels American Legion Post 400 after it was pushed in by a hit-and-run driver.
This photo shows what members saw early Wednesday after a hit-and-run driver plowed into the side of the American Legion building on Pine Street in Carmichaels.
CARMICHAELS – Carmichaels American Legion Post members awoke Wednesday to learn there was a gaping hole in the side of the legion building on Pine Street in Carmichaels Borough.
Post Commander Bill Ross said state police received a call from post security firm, ADT, around 3 a.m. that there was movement in the bar area of the club. When police arrived they found a six-foot-wide area of the outside wall was pushed into the club. Tire marks were visible from one end of Pine St. to the other. The responsible party was gone.
Inside the club, bar stools were knocked over when vinyl siding, bricks and dry wall flew from the impact that shoved the wall about four feet into the bar. A television and digital clock clung to the torn section of wall along with advertising posters.
Just three hours earlier members were seated in the bar area. Darlene Stefan, bartender and historian of the ladies auxiliary, was in disbelief outside the legion Tuesday. On any other night, she would have been inside cleaning when it was hit, she said.
“It was around midnight and I was really tired so Joy (Morgan, first vice president of the auxiliary) told me to just go home,” Stefan said.
Morgan just shook her head.
“It is hard to believe someone would hit the building and then just drive away like that,” she said.
Morgan noted the post and two other establishments on the block have security cameras she hopes will provide police with the identity of the person who committed the hit-and-run.
Ross said the person who did the damage must have got his vehicle stuck in a grassy area at the corner of the Legion’s secondary parking lot across from the building. Tire marks in the grass indicate the vehicle freed itself and then drove up Pine toward George Street.
It was unclear whether the post would need to be temporarily shut down while repairs are made to the building. The insurance adjustor will be at the facility Thursday to make the determination. Morgan said the post will also find out then how high the deductible is going to be for the damages.
In the meantime, a contractor has boarded up the hole.
A year ago someone drove along the edge of the secondary parking lot knocking over multiple concrete posts, tipping a dumpster and bending over a stop sign. They also drove off and no arrest was made, Morgan said.
The building was erected in 2009 to replace the former post home when it was deemed structurally deficient. The old building also lacked handicap accessibility. The current facility cost roughly $450,000 to build.
Anyone with information about the hit-and-run is asked to call state police in Waynesburg at 724-627-6151.