Dog blamed for crash that damaged Wisconsin building

STURGEON BAY, Wis. (WBAY) - An owner says his dog crashed his Jeep into a building in Sturgeon Bay, Wis.

On March 13, Sturgeon Bay Police were called to 242 Michigan Street for a vehicle into the Fairfield Building.

The driver told police he had parked his Jeep at a gas station and walked over to the Sunflower Bakery. A short time later he saw his Jeep up against the Fairfield building across the street.

The driver said he was sure he put his vehicle into park. He told police that his 5-year-old Australian shepherd, Callie, was inside the Jeep and suspected the animal bumped the shifter into drive.

The manager of the Fairfield Building where the crash happened, Tony Scimeca, said,”With bad cellular service I said wait a minute I think you said a dog drove into the building, and she said no, you heard it right, so a thousand jokes happen, like boy is his rates going up or did he have any prior convictions.”

A police report shows the SUV was parked in the gas station parking lot across the street. It curves right and crosses Michigan Street into the building.

There were no injuries.

Art museum Pearl of Door County posted photos of the crash on Facebook. The owner of the shop, Megan Lundahl, said she was grateful no one was hurt. Lundahl said, “I have a shop dog that’s with me often, Carmen, and I told her that, if she’s going to invite her friends over, just have them use the front door.”

Lundahl also posted on the shop’s FB page and said: “It’s not every day that a dog drives a Jeep across traffic and right in to your business! ...a lil shook but saved by a big chunk of smokey quartz! Thankfully no one was injured,” reads the post.

Callie’s owner says he’s glad that no one was hurt. He says Callie’s driver’s license has been suspended for the foreseeable future.

He told Action 2 News, “Callie and I are very happy no one was hurt and there was very little damage as a result of the incident the other day.”

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