Patrons of a Brunswick tennis and fitness club got a rude interruption on Thursday when an SUV crashed through a wall of the building and traversed multiple tennis courts and other rooms of the facility.
Multiple people called 911 at about 9:40 a.m. to report that a vehicle had driven into Maine Pines Racquet and Fitness at 120 Harpswell Road, according to the Brunswick Police Department.
First responders found what Brunswick police described as “a very chaotic scene” at the business, where many people had been playing tennis and exercising. The vehicle, a 2014 Jeep Cherokee, was found deep within the building.
Police said the driver, 72-year-old Michelle Vadeboncoeur of Gray, crashed the SUV through an outside wall, sped across four “active” tennis courts, through the lobby and into another room where it finally came to rest.
“Witnesses reported people were running in all directions to avoid the vehicle as it sped through the building,” Brunswick police said in a news release.
Police said Vadeboncoeur was injured, as was one patron of the club who was hit by flying glass.
The department did not say anything about the circumstances that led Vadeboncoeur to crash into the building.
The club announced on Facebook that the building will be closed “for a few days to assess, clean up and make repairs as there’s been extensive damage, particularly to the aerobics studio.”
