La Pine woman, 79, crashes into Ray’s Food Place

A 79-year-old La Pine woman who mistook the gas for the brake pedal on her new car crashed all the way into Ray’s Food Place during the lunch hour on Tuesday, but no one was injured, Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies said.

Deputies responded around 12:30 p.m. to the reported crash at the store on Highway 97, Lt. Mike Biondi said.

They arrived to find a red 2019 Toyota Corolla whose driver had driven over the sidewalk and through the front entrance of the store, Biondi said.

An investigation determined that she had recently purchased the car “and was not very familiar with it,” the lieutenant said in a news release.

“She pulled into a parking stall in front of the store and then mistook the accelerator for the brake pedal,” Biondi said.

The car then went over the sidewalk and into the store, causing “substantial damage” to the building, store displays and checkstands, he added.

La Pine Fire Department medics arrived and assessed the driver, who declined treatment. She was provided a ride home by deputies, according to Biondi, who said no citations have been issued.