Car crashes into JCPenney at Spokane Valley Mall, driver ‘in crisis’

A car crashed through the JCPenney store at the Spokane Valley Mall early Wednesday morning, leaving the driver with minor injuries.

The Spokane Valley Fire Department responded to the scene around 1:30 a.m. to find the car had smashed through the exterior wall of the mall and stopped inside the store. The driver was unresponsive at the time, the department said in a news release. Crews removed the driver through the back window and he was taken to the hospital.

The driver was reported to have been “in crisis,” according to a news release from the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office. He had made statements of self-harm and told a family member he intended to drive into a wall.

He was placed on a mental hold at the hospital and has not been charged with a crime or arrested, although police have requested a warrant for first-degree malicious mischief. Estimated damages range from $30,000 to $50,000, the sheriff’s office said.

No one was inside the store at the time and no other injuries were reported. The hole has since been boarded up.