Pickup barrels from Route 30 into Lazor Furniture in Unity
Pickup crashed into Lazor Furniture in Unity Twp.
Pickup truck reportedly attempting to cross both lanes of Rt. 30 from Kingston Street collided with east bound tri-axle truck, lost control and crashed into furniture store showroom, state police said.
No customers were inside Lazor Furniture on Tuesday morning about 45 minutes after the store opened.
It was a good thing because a pickup truck came barreling through the store’s Unity Township front door.
Nikole Lazor, daughter of owner Conrad Lazor, said she heard a “god awful noise” around 10:15 a.m. and glanced over to the security cameras. Instead of pieces of furniture, she saw a white Chevrolet Silverado coming through the showroom floor.
The male driver was taken to AHN Forbes Hospital, Youngstown Fire Assistant Chief Dan Bald said.
The front doorway of the furniture store was completely gone and glass was thrown about 70 feet into the building, said Shawn Lazor, who was at work with his sister. They called 911.
“Luckily, we had no customers in the store yet,” Nikole Lazor said.
“It was really scary and thankfully no one was seriously injured,” Shawn Lazor said.
Shawn Lazor said he heard the commotion and immediately started heading towards the showroom.
“I really didn’t know what was going on at first. I saw a bunch of smoke and a loud noise, then I saw the truck heading right towards me,” he said.
Fortunately, he said the truck collided into a wall partitian and came to rest. Lamps, a vase, and several other pieces of furniture were damaged.
Store owner Conrad Lazor, 77, who arrived a few minutes after the crash, was grateful it appeared no one was seriously injured.
“We’re really lucky it wasn’t worse … Nikole parked right outside the entrance and the truck pushed her Jeep over,” Conrad Lazor said.
“All of us certainly have a lot to be thankful for next week at Thanksgiving,” he added.
State police said the pickup truck was attempting to cross both eastbound lanes of Route 30 from Kingston Street and appeared to collide with an eastbound tri-axle truck, lost control and struck the building. Troopers said the accident was still under investigation.
Troopers said another motorist provided them with a dash camera video that captured a portion of the crash which they will review. No further information, including the identity of the pickup truck driver, was immediately available.
The Lazors said the store has been located there since about 1983.
Staff writer Renatta Signorini contributed. Paul Peirce is a Tribune-Review staff writer.
