Man Attempts Suicide By Crashing Car Through Showroom Window

[matcom]

<snip>

A man who backed a car through the windows of Preston Motors’ showroom Tuesday told police he was attempting suicide.

According to accounts from police and a Preston employee, 19-year-old Frank Lee Blinn walked into the car dealership’s showroom on Wilmington Road shortly after the business opened at 9 a.m.

While no one was in the room, he allegedly found keys inside a white 2007 Toyota Camry sedan with a spoiler, started it, then backed up, crashing the car through two front plate glass windows.

Shattered glass lay on the sidewalk as employees stood looking at the mess.

Dale Payne, service manager at Preston, said Blinn had entered the business around 7:15 a.m., went into his office and said he wanted to buy a car.

Payne said he had told Blinn that the sales staff does not get to work until around 8:30 a.m., then said he had things to do and went to work, not paying attention to Blinn.

“I didn’t know where he went. I lost track of him. I thought he left,” Payne said, adding, “I don’t know why he did what he did.”

Just after 9 a.m., when no salespeople were around, Blinn got into the car that apparently had the keys inside, started it up and backed it through the front plate glass windows.

He then got out of the car and ran. A Preston employee who saw Blinn run from the showroom into the nearby Eckerd Drug store called police.

Neshannock Township and state police found Blinn inside the drug store and asked for his identification. He said he had none, but told an officer his name.

At first, he told police he had walked past Preston Motors earlier but was not inside. When officers told him a witness was going to identify him, he admitted to driving the car through the window, according to police.

http://www.ncnewsmedia.com/archive/tim_galleries/Preston_Crash/blog.htm