At a little before 3pm on Tuesday (11/1/2022) afternoon, a gray, 4-door pickup truck was driving east up Main Street toward the mountain when it drifted left, crossed the double yellow line, hit the curb, plowed over a sapling tree, sped passed the moose sculpture made of driftwood, then hit and bounced off of the old brick firehouse building that is currently Hudson Beacon Glass, on the corner of Cross Street and Main Street.

The truck hit the corner of the building, which has a metal pole mounted to it, and bounced off, where it came to a stop, according to a witness. No major damage was done to the building, which is filled with glass blown pieces on shelves for people to buy. A clock did fall off the wall, according to a glass blower working there at the time. Otherwise, nothing shook or shattered, they didn’t think.

According to a witness, the driver was a local Beaconite who was driving with his small black and white dog, when he thought he dozed off at the wheel, perhaps causing his foot to hit the gas pedal as his truck veered left. Upon impact, the airbag deployed. According to the witness, the only injury he sustained was a scratch to his elbow. The driver was not immediately taken by an ambulance after the crash.

After the truck hit the building, a glass blower on the second floor heard the bang. After the bang, another glass blower on the first floor heard a dog barking wildly. According to a witness, a local pedestrian on the sidewalk had been glancing at something nearby, and was about to move forward to study it, when the truck whizzed by them and crashed into the building.

Both the pedestrian and a glass blower immediately assisted the person in the car. After the air bag deployed, it caused smoke to come out, triggering the pedestrian who almost got hit to run toward the vehicle to open it to help the victim and the dog who was barking wildly from inside. Police arrived moments later to block the area. After things settled a bit, the driver could be seen sitting in a stoop of an apartment slightly up the street.

According to a witness, the driver had just completed work to his truck, and was very shaken about the incident.