Driver arrested after crashing into emergency room entrance

Powell Valley Healthcare patients directed to use cafe entrance

Posted 1/28/24

A driver crashed through Powell Valley Healthcare’s emergency room entrance early Saturday morning, damaging the building but resulting in no injuries. Police arrested a 43-year-old …

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Driver arrested after crashing into emergency room entrance

Powell Valley Healthcare patients directed to use cafe entrance

Posted

A driver crashed through Powell Valley Healthcare’s emergency room entrance early Saturday morning, damaging the building but resulting in no injuries. Police arrested a 43-year-old Powell woman in connection with the crash and are recommending several criminal charges, interim Powell Police Chief Matt McCaslin said Saturday evening.

With the damaged ER entrance now boarded up, Powell Valley Healthcare officials are asking patients to temporarily use the cafe door. It’s located just west of the ER, on the other side of the ambulance bays.

According to police, the vehicle crashed through two sets of double doors and into the  ER lobby around 3 a.m. Although the driver “was continuing to try to drive forward,” McCaslin said the vehicle got stuck in the doorway and did not reach the front desk area, where an employee was working. No one was in the lobby.

“The hospital is one of the few places in town that is staffed 24/7 and has people coming and going all times of the night,” McCaslin said. “So it was definitely an amazing thing that no one was hurt.”

Ultimately, the driver got their vehicle free and backed out of the building, driving off before officers arrived, the interim chief said. However, a family member of the suspected driver soon contacted police and reported she was in a parking lot on Seventh Street. Officers found the woman in her vehicle shortly before 3:30 a.m. and arrested her, McCaslin said.

The suspect, he said, was taken back to Powell Valley Healthcare and checked out by medical personnel before being driven to the Park County Detention Center in Cody. She was booked into jail around 7:45 a.m.

Speaking Saturday evening, McCaslin said he wasn’t certain of what charges the woman would face, but he said police were recommending counts of driving while under the influence and leaving the scene of an accident; he also mentioned potential charges of aggravated assault and property destruction.

As for what led the woman to crash into the hospital, McCaslin declined to comment, saying only that police are continuing to investigate.

“There are certain parts of the case I can’t really speak about,” he said.

The woman remained in the Park County Detention Center on Sunday, awaiting an initial court appearance.

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