A simple case of asking for directions turned into a big problem in Westbrook last week, leaving both a car and a building damaged.

Jerrett Shaffer said that Donald Lemay of Church Street came into his father’s lawnmower repair shop at the corner of Spring Street and County Road on July 14 asking for directions to another lawnmower repair shop. Shaffer said he gave the man directions to another shop down the street, although his family’s business, Shaffer’s Maine-ly Small Engines, does repair work on lawnmowers.

Then, as Lemay was leaving, he lost control of his car and backed it into a corner of the building, causing damage to a load-bearing corner, according to Shaffer.

“All of a sudden the building shook,” said Shaffer. “Then I came out and a car was pinned in against the building.”

According to Shaffer, Lemay said his accelerator stuck. The car went in a curve backwards and hit some lawn equipment and scraped along and bent a small dumpster before hitting the corner of the garage, he said.

Westbrook Assistant Code Enforcement Officer Diana Brown said it appeared the impact caused some structural damage to the building. She said no one was hurt in the accident, but the building was damaged and so was the car.

“It did a wicked lot of damage to his car,” she said.

As for the building, the car hit hard enough to dislodge the panels off of an old fuse box just inside the door of the garage. It also damaged an electrical meter on the outside wall.

Westbrook Fire Inspector Lt. Chuck Jarrett said he thought repairs would include routing power around the meter, repairing the corner of the garage, then putting the meter back.

“It actually won’t be that bad,” he said.

On the morning of the accident, Jerrett Shaffer’s father Randy, who owns Maine-ly Small Engines and rents the building, said he wasn’t sure what he’d do if the building’s owner didn’t want to repair it.

“I’ll have to weigh my options to see whether we’ll repair it or look for another location,” said Randy Shaffer. “I can’t tell you what we’re going to do.”

Westbrook Code Enforcement Officer Rick Gouzie said that morning that he would try to contact the owner of the building. He said in cases such as these, he sends a letter and the owner has 48 hours to respond with a plan to repair the building. If not, Gouzie said he might be forced to shut the building down because of the structural damage.

However, Gouzie said Monday he’d been in contact with the owner of the building, and the owner said he was willing to do the repairs.

All in all, Jerrett Shaffer said it was kind of a funny story that Lemay came in asking for directions to another shop, didn’t buy anything and then backed his car into the shop. He said Lemay’s lawnmower was still in the trunk of his car when it was taken away on the tow truck.

Westbrook Fire Inspector Lt. Chuck Jarrett inspects a damaged electrical panel at the scene of a July 14 accident where a man accidentally drove his car into a building on Spring Street and County Road. No one was hurt in the accident, but the building sustained structural damage.

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