The crash occurred Sunday around 7 p.m. near the intersection of North Limestone Street and East Harding Road. According to police a GMC truck driven by Stephens struck a motorcycle there, then crashed into the Trophy Sports Center at 2030 N. Limestone Street.
The driver of the motorcycle, 26-year-old Brandon Nokes, was taken via ambulance to Springfield Regional Medical Center with unknown injuries. His passenger, 23-year-old Emlyn Bowles, was taken via helicopter to Miami Valley Hospital, where she was listed in serious condition Monday.
Don Henderson, owner of Trophy Sports Center, spent much of Monday picking up the pieces inside his shop. Nearly every rack of clothing was sent flying across the inside, and his new trophy display was nothing but rubble. The Springfield fire department said the building is structurally sound, but Henderson hired a company to shore up next to the gaping hole. Bricks and glass mingled with dirt and pieces of Stephens’ truck.
With only one other employee, Henderson said he’s depended on the help of family and friends to clean up. While the storefront is destroyed, Henderson was still taking calls from customers, needing all the business he can get amid the chaos.
“It’s hard to tell (what’s salvageable) at this point,” he said. “We’re going to have to go through everything and do an inventory of what’s still good and not good. I’d say about half the contents in here were destroyed.”
The newly-created job training center run by Champaign Residential Services Inc. behind the shop delayed its first day of business to today due to the damage.
As for Henderson, he said he’s still determining if he will need to move to a new location. He’s just thankful no one was inside at the time of the crash.
“I’m sorry about the driver, sorry about the people on the motorcycle that he hit,” he said. “That’s the big loss in all of this. This stuff can be replaced, it just sets us back a bit.”
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