PELHAM, NY — In what can only be called a miracle, no one was killed or injured when a 12-year-old boy hopped into the driver’s seat of a silver Toyota minivan and took it for a very short ride — from a parking space behind the Pelham Family Center into an office at the rear of the Center’s building at 507 Fifth Avenue in Pelham, NY.
No injuries were reported, according to Pelham Fire Chief Robert Benkwitt III.
The matter in under investigation by Pelham Police. No information will be released due to the boy’s age.
Pelham Family Center is a mental health clinic and part of Family Services of Westchester.
Center Director Andrew Levine told Talk of the Sound exclusively how one of his employees was sitting at a desk in an office towards the rear of the building when the minivan crashed through the wall, causing significant structural, and startling the employee.
Moments after the incident, Talk of the Sound got an exclusive look at the damage from inside the shattered office. Debris was scattered throughout the office, documents, office supplies, window blinds, insulation, and ceiling tiles. A pen on a pad on a desk marked the spot where the employee was working when the room exploded. The walls of one side of the office were mostly ripped away.
Firefighters moved about the debris, inspecting the ceiling for structural integrity, preparing to shore up the building, as this reporter stood just a few feet away.
Chief Benkwitt said the call came in at 11:50 a.m. Pelham FD requested Mutual Aid from New Rochelle Fire Department, their Rescue, and Collapse Units. The structure was shored up, and the scene turned back over to the property owner at 1:50 p.m.
The Collapse unit is experienced and highly trained.
On May 25, the New Rochelle Fire Department took advantage of the ongoing construction at Lincoln Park in New Rochelle to run a day’s worth of Trench Rescue Training. The Collapse Unit training on May 25 was the unit that along with the Rescue Unit led the Pelham response today.
Three weeks earlier, on May 4, New Rochelle Fire Department’s collapse and rescue units assisted a rescue effort in Mamaroneck where a man died in a trench collapse.
New Rochelle Fire Department Conducts Trench-Rescue Training at Remington Site