|
||
| Delayne Thompson was writing a memo at her desk in a Countrywide Mortgage branch last week when she noticed something heading toward the office.It was a white Ford expedition. And it was heading right for her.
“I was working at my desk,” said Thompson, who manages a suburban Lexington, Ky., office for the Calabasas, Calf.-based lender. “It was about 12:15 in the afternoon. I looked up and this SUV was crossing the sidewalk. I thought, ‘Oh my God, it’s going to hit the building.'” That’s exactly what happened on June 9. The SUV, driven by an elderly man who was coming in to pay on his loan, slammed into the building, smashed the office’s front window, demolished Thompson’s desk and finally came to rest in her office. Neither the driver nor Thompson was injured. But both were shaken up. “It stopped right on my desk,” said Thompson, who has been with Countrywide for five years. “It’s pretty impressive to see an SUV in the middle of your office.” No customers were in the office, nor were Thompson’s two employees. “We were tremendously blessed,” she said. “It could have been a lot worse. We can get very busy with people making their payments … but luckily nobody was in here at the time.” Lexington Police did not have a damage estimate. A spokesman said he is not sure if the driver will be charged or what he might be charged with. Thompson said the man was upset, yet extremely apologetic. The man meant to hit the brakes but instead tapped the accelerator with his foot. “He called here (Monday) morning to check on me,” Thompson said. “He said all he could remember was me screaming. It was very frightening.” The office is located in a strip retail center off of a main commercial artery, so traffic is common. Thompson said when she saw the SUV coming toward the window, she jumped up and pressed against a back wall; because of the angle of vehicle she could not get to the office door. She turned her back and glass “went everywhere.” “I screamed my head off,” Thompson said with a giggle. “It was the most frightening thing I’ve encountered in my whole life. “I told my boss I deserve hazard pay,” she said. |
||
|
Patrick Crowley is a feature journalist and blogger for MortgageDaily.com. He is also a reporter, blogger and columnist for The Cincinnati Enquirer. |
