A Hamden driver has a lot of thanking to do after losing control and slamming into a gas pump!
It happened Wednesday at the Shell Gas Station in the 1900 block of Whitney Avenue in Hamden. Police say the driver was making a left turn onto Whitney Avenue from Skiff Street when she lost control of her car. The 81-year-old driver was just moments away from a dangerous explosion, but is alive thanks to some quick thinking good samaritans.
“I was stocking some boxes and took a break to look out the window. That's when I saw her coming this way. I thought she’s either going to hit the building or a gas pump. The first thing that came to my mind is I have to turn off the emergency switch!” said Mazhar Hussein, the gas station owner.
Witnesses say the out-of-control Chevy took out the pump and then some. Police say Hussein hit the emergency gas button- cutting power to all the pumps- just in the nick of time.
“If I didn’t do that, the littlest spark could have blown up the whole place,” said Hussein.
One of the witnesses just happened to be a nurse. She ran to help the elderly driver out of the crushed car.
“She said did I hurt anyone? That was the first thing on her mind. She wanted to know if she hurt anyone else,” said Hannah Larkin-Wells of North Haven.
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Police say only the driver was hurt in the crash. She was taken to Yale-New Haven Hospital, but is expected to be okay.
“She made it through a busy intersection without hitting anyone. There was a lot of good luck and lot of good thinking involved all around,” said Larkin-Wells.
