A woman allegedly driving a stolen vehicle and being followed by police crashed into a building in downtown Kansas City, Missouri, and that building partially collapsed.
According to KSHB television station, Capt. Chris Sicoli said the car was reportedly stolen and was spotted by police Thursday morning. Police did not pursue the vehicle at that point.
A detective later spotted the vehicle running a stop sign and traveling at about 80 mph, according to Capt. Sicoli. At that point, a police pursuit was authorized.
The woman hit a fire hydrant before crashing into the front of the building. In the video, a large plume of dust and smoke rises upon impact. She has non-life threatening injuries and was stable Thursday afternoon.
A witness, Cynthia Bell, was sitting in her car when she saw the car driving by.
“They was doing at least 80 or 90 down a main street not a highway a main street," Bell said. “As fast as she was going, as fast as they were chasing her, I knew something was going to happen."
Moments later, she saw the car slam into the corner of the building.
"It was like a bomb. Like boom,” Bell said. “If it could shake the ground, it would have because everything collapsed. It was like in slow motion, and I was praying for her more than anything. That's all I could think about was her regardless of what she did or what happened. It doesn't have to end there."
See more photos of the collapsed building
Chris Willsey owns the building and was on his way to the property when he got a call saying his building had partially collapsed.
“Definitely not the call you want to get,” Willsey said. “I’ve been trying to sell the place and wish I would have before this happened.”
Willsey said an inspector from Kansas City Dangerous Buildings told him the remaining part of the building is stable enough to keep. Willsey plans on saving what he can, including his cars.
"As long as they let me in the building to get them out of there, I'll definitely try to save the cars," Willsey said. “The priority is on saving the building.”
