Oakland auto body shop heavily damaged after vehicle crashes into it
"We were blessed that nobody was working because there could have been some major casualties and maybe a fatality."
OAKLAND — The garage-work area of a well-known East Oakland auto body shop was heavily damaged and will remain closed indefinitely after a vehicle slammed into the building Tuesday night, according to the company a nd authorities.
The driver escaped injury and no other injuries were reported. The business was closed and no one was inside the building at the time of the crash.
The car crashed into Turbo Auto Body, in the 1700 block of International Boulevard, about 8:30 p.m. Tuesday. The cause of the crash was not immediately clear Wednesday.
The company has been at the site for 31 years and had never experienced such an incident, owner Enoch Shin said.
Johana Mazariegos, Turbo’s general manager, said Wednesday morning they are “trying to figure out what we’re going to do about our building and our employees.” Turbo employs more than two dozen employees.
Officials said the building has been red-tagged by city inspectors, meaning no one can go inside until it is considered structurally sound.
“There won’t be any work today or for a while,” Mazariegos said.
She said there were 10 vehicles inside the garage area when the crash happened and some were damaged when portions of the roof and a brick wall collapsed.
Still, she expressed gratitude that no workers or customers were around to suffer injury at the time of the crash.
“We were blessed that nobody was working because there could have been some major casualties and maybe a fatality,” she said.
The westbound lanes of International Boulevard between 17th and 18th avenues remained closed Wednesday morning as a precaution.
Staff photographer Aric Crabb contributed to this report.