Rock Valley, Iowa — A flower shop in downtown Rock Valley will need several thousands of dollars worth of work done after a pickup struck the building and then its driver fled the scene on Wednesday morning.
According to Rock Valley Police Chief Monte Warburton, the incident began when a pickup, which authorities later found out was driven by 25-year-old Elias Sebastian-Chilel, hit the building, at about 8:40 a.m. He says it appears that Sebastian-Chilel was driving the pickup and lost control. It appears it jumped the curb and struck a flower pot fixture and he was able to stop the pickup before it struck the La Rosita store. But Warburton says it appears he then put the vehicle in reverse and did a 180 so he was again facing the street, but at such a high rate of speed that he couldn’t stop before backing into the store next door — the Something Special flower shop.
The chief tells us the storefront sustained about $30,000 in damages, but thankfully no one was in the store at the time. The pickup sustained about $7000 in damage, but was still drivable, and drive it, he did, says Warburton. He says Sebastian-Chilel fled the scene and wasn’t located until the 3 p.m. hour in Rock Valley.
Warburton says he has reason to believe alcohol was a factor in the incident.
He says Sebastian-Chilel faces charges of careless driving, failure to maintain control, failure to obey a traffic control device, operating with expired insurance, and driving without a license.
