CONNELLSVILLE, Pa. — Twenty-one years ago, John Prah put an addition onto the front of his home on South Pittsburgh Street: a barbershop right in the heart of Connellsville. But customers won’t be able to walk in anytime for the foreseeable future after a car slammed into it overnight Thursday.
“I was trying to go back to sleep, and then BANG!” said Jiencee Prah, John’s wife. “I said to my husband, ‘Somebody hit the house!’”
It happened around 4:15 a.m. Hours later, car parts were still lying in the yard, just outside the window of John Prah’s Barber Shop, where he’s been cutting hair for the last two decades of his career.
“Christmas is coming. I can’t be out too long, you know. I’ve got people to take care of,” Prah said.
“He’s got a break now because of this crap happening,” said Christopher Ritenour, John’s grandson.
The Prahs told Channel 11 that this actually isn’t the first time something like this has happened. Another driver took out part of the shop’s sign before barreling through a neighbor’s yard and crashing into their porch.
“Some guy came through here, took down his sign, went down there, and took out that front porch,” Jiencee said.
At 83 years old, John isn’t planning to put down his clippers anytime soon. He’s already met with his contractor and hopes to get back up and running as soon as possible.
“People say. ‘How long are you going to be cutting hair?’ I say, ‘As long as I can see, as long as I don’t shake, as long as I can stand up. Why not?” John said. “I came out here to cut hair by appointment - until I die. That’s what I do.”
Prah said he’s hoping that insurance will cover most, if not all, of the cost to rebuild and is looking forward to welcoming customers back in the near future.
No one was hurt in the incident. It’s unclear if the driver will face any charges.
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