By Al Stasch

Just before rush hour on Thursday, a car tried to enter the drive into Inland Bank on St. Charles Road in Villa Park and ended up crashing through the glass into the Bank Branch Manager’s office. There were no immediate reports of injuries. The Bank Manager was not in his office at the time of the accident.

Witnesses and officials on the scene indicated the crash might have occurred when a small commercial truck traveling behind the car struck the vehicle from behind. When the truck hit the car from the rear, the driver of the car lost control as it was making the right hand turn. Both vehicles were towed from the scene with relatively minor damage.

Inland Bank’s front window suffered the most damage. A large plate glass window was completely separated from the brick wall and glass shards were visible inside the Branch Manager’s office. When the Manager arrived shortly after the incident, he appeared shocked by what he saw of his office. Luckily, he was away from the bank on business.

The Villa Park Fire Department responded with a Paramedic unit and an Engine. The Paramedics did transport the driver of the car to a local hospital. The condition of the driver was not immediately known but witnesses indicated the driver did not appear to be seriously injured.

In addition to the glass window and frame, the car destroyed a sign at the entrance to the bank. During the clean up it took several minutes for the towing company to remove the vehicle and sign from the crash. Traffic on St. Charles Road was backed up in both directions for at least a mile as the rush hour volume increased. For several minutes, traffic was stopped in both direction on St. Charles Road and the Villa Park Police rerouted cars to side streets. Shortly after 5 PM the incident was clear and traffic resumed to normal.