Silva's Auto Body employees Debbie Sanchez and Mike Bingham clean up broken glass and furniture after a car crashed into the building Thursday afternoon.

Photo by: Wendy Alexander

Working in the auto body business, the employees at Silva's Auto Body know car crashes happen everyday. But Thursday afternoon they saw it firsthand when a brown Cadillac exploded through their front window.

Cecilia Castillo, 35, was sitting at the receptionist desk when she saw the Cadillac coming at her.

"I just seen the car swerve to stop," said Castillo, who has worked as a receptionist for the shop for five months. "But instead of hitting the brakes she hit the gas and came at me."

The car barreled through the shop's waiting room window after the driver attempted to make a left turn onto 6th Street from C Street.

The driver of the car, a 17-year-old girl, spilled water and leaned to pick it up, said Sgt. Matt Wiles of the Madera Police Department. She hit the gas as she was trying to make the turn.

The name of the driver and her two juvenile companions could not be released since all three are minors. However, Wiles did say the driver of the Cadillac was cited for unsafe speeding and an unsafe turning movement.

The crash, which occurred during business hours, left furniture and plants overturned and broken. The entire plate glass window shattered on impact, littering both the inside and outside of the building with glass.

Castillo said she was shocked when the Cadillac entered the building and didn't stop until it sat halfway in the shop's waiting room.

"Not even five minutes ago, I was standing by the glass," Castillo said. "I was having lunch right by the window."

Mike Bingham, an estimator for the shop, was also in the room at his computer when the car burst through the window.

But Bingham didn't see the car enter - he felt it.

"I heard it, felt it and when I turned around it was sitting in the office," Bingham said.

Bingham said it felt as if the car hit a brick wall instead of a plate glass window.

"It shook the building and the lights flickered," said Bingham, who ran out of the building to help the three teenage girls.

Bingham helped the girls out of the car and said they all seemed fine. There were also no employees injured.

Silva's Auto Body plans to board up the window and stay open despite the distraction.

"The whole week has been dead," Castillo said. "Today, there was a little more excitement."