NORTHAMPTON — A car crashed into the building housing Valley Aikido on Merrick Street around 2:30 p.m. today, leaving at least two hospitalized.
Emergency responders declined to comment on the incident, but bystander Modesto Garcia witnessed the accident while shoveling snow from a parking lot behind nearby Fitzwilly’s Restaurant and Bar. Using his daughter as a translator, Garcia recalled watching the four-door vehicle hurtling toward the building at a high rate of speed.
The car slammed into the brick building with two people — a man and a woman — inside, he said. The man, who was behind the wheel, was immediately transported from the scene, Garcia said. His passenger was later removed from the vehicle, placed on a stretcher and loaded into a waiting ambulance.
Glass and auto parts lay scattered across the area following the crash. The vehicle remained in the parking lot, its front end buckled from the impact.
This article will be updated as more information becomes available.