Vehicle crashes into Hewlett’s Ace Hardware

A store manager grabbed a cashier out of the way after a Toyota Sienna minivan crashed through the storefront window of the Ace Hardware store in the Peninsula Shopping Center in Hewlett on Sunday at approximately 4:30 p.m.

The teenage operator of the minivan and another store employee suffered minor injuries and refused treatment at the scene, according to Hewlett Fire Chief Ethan Lahey, who added there was no structural damage to the building.

Justin Hay, the store manager, was walking to the cash register area to assist a cashier, when the vehicle crashed through the store window. “There is no estimate but there was property and merchandise damage, the windows are boarded up, but we are open,” said Hay, who has worked at the store since its opening a few months and overall for Ace Hardware the past two and half years.

“This was the first time,” Hay said that this happened with him in the store, “and hopefully the last."