Unlicensed boy crashes car into Uniontown store

UNIONTOWN, Pa. — Police said an unlicensed 17-year-old crashed a truck into a Uniontown store Saturday night causing serious damage.

Two Byers Market employees said they were working when suddenly a truck driven by Joseph Engle plowed through the front of the store.

“No one was hurt, but there could have been a customer right there. They’d be dead,” owner Donnie Arthur said. “The good Lord was watching over this place. What if a customer was standing there?”

The employees said Engle, who was driving on a learner’s permit, claimed he was attempting to hit the brake when he mistakenly hit the gas.

"He looks at me and he starts cursing, and then he puts it in reverse and backs out through the store and them he comes back in and he's freaked out," said Arthur's nephew David Byers.

Police said there is surveillance video of Engle coming into the store, yelling and picking up his side mirror.

“Maybe he didn’t like my hoagie prices. He drove in and drove out,” Arthur said.

Byers Market, which reopened Monday at 6 a.m., was damaged last year when someone intentionally drove a stolen van into the store to steal cigars and food.

According to the police report, Engle is being charged with driving without a license and reckless driving.

WPXI