CVS Easter Shopper OK After Blow from Car

A North Haven woman who was struck by a car while shopping for Easter cards at on Washington Avenue should be released from by the end of the day, according to her son.

Melanie Burr, of 44 Woodland Ave., was hospitalized with laceration injuries to her arm and shoulder after a blow from a car that crashed through the brick wall of the store at about 10:30 a.m. today, said North Haven Control Officer Ted Stockmon.

“For whatever reason the car accelerated at a high speed while taking the turn,” said Stockmon.

Stockmon said the car, a 2005 Subaru Legacy, was taking a left turn out of the Starbucks parking lot when the driver, a 63-year-old North Haven resident, lost control of the vehicle. The car careened off a parked Mercedes and completely broke through the wall, said Stockmon. An 80-year-old woman who was in the passenger seat of the Mercedes did not need hospitalization, he said.

The Subaru was “totally immersed” in the store, said Stockmon. 

Stockmon said he pulled the driver out of her vehicle and she was then transported to Yale-New Haven Hospital, but there were no visible injuries, he said. Burr, on the other hand, had suffered cuts to her arm and shoulders, said Stockmon. 

Anthony Burr, Melanie Burr’s son, said he talked to his mother after she was transported to Yale-New Haven, which was sometime before noon.

“She heard a sound like the whole building was falling down,” Burr said of his mother’s experience. "Next thing she knew, she was on the floor."

At about noon, he said she was in a lot of pain and could not move her arm. However, a few hours later at about 3 p.m., Burr said that, pending evaluations, his mother should be released from the hospital by the end of the day with “mostly internal injuries like bruising." 

In his 25 years of service, Stockmon said this is the fourth time a car has crashed into CVS and the second time a car has crashed into the side of the building.

An ongoing investigation will look into what caused the car to accelerate while taking the turn out of the parking lot in front of , he said. 

No charges have been made.