LANCASTER COUNTY, S.C. — Rita Finch and her sister, Janice Montgomery, have worked side by side at their family hair salon since the '70s. On Thursday morning, they're glad they weren't at work yet when a car came barreling right into their salon, and it didn't stop.
"It's the most overwhelming thing I've ever looked at," Finch said. A state trooper called her about the crash in the early morning.
When she got there, she found devastation. The car blasted a gaping hole in one side of the salon and out the other. Glass, brick and splintered wood is scattered everywhere. In the debris pile you can see hair dryers, salon chairs and a car's side-view mirror.
Finch said much of what was in there belonged to her mother, who was a hair stylist, too.
"Everything that was my mother's was just wiped out," she said.
Cassie Tucker lives in an apartment next door that overlooks the small business.
"I thought it was thundering, and my dog wouldn't quit barking," Tucker said. "I looked outside, and there was the car."
Troopers said 42-year-old James Lucas of Lancaster was driving the car. They are still investigating how he lost control, however, witnesses said they'd heard there was a medical condition.
Lucas was still at Springs Hospital late Thursday, and no charges had been filed.
Fortunately, the business wasn't open yet, and the full schedule of Easter appointments hadn't arrived yet.
"If it had been three hours later, my sister would've been working at that very booth," Finch said.
For now, a family friend at University Hair Center is letting the sisters do hair at her place.
The building was insured, but Finch isn't sure what's next.
"It's just too soon. Still all too new," she said.