Bill Bregar was working at his Powell liquor store on Thursday evening when he heard tires squealing, then a very loud noise.

“It sounded just like an explosion,” Bregar said, “and stuff started flying everywhere.”

He soon learned that a Powell woman had collided with another vehicle on Coulter Avenue, then crashed through the back wall of the Powell Liquor Market off Day Street. The store suffered substantial damage, with the woman’s SUV hitting walls, a supporting pillar and coolers while crushing many bottles and cans of alcohol. Both vehicles were severely damaged in the crash as well, but no serious injuries were reported. It could have been much worse, as Bregar said workers had been in the back storeroom just a couple minutes before the SUV came crashing in.

“Considering everything happening around the world, this is pretty minor,” Bregar said. “I’m just thankful the good Lord was looking out for everybody and nobody got hurt.”

Police allege that the driver who hit the building, 65-year-old Cindy M. McCament, was under the influence of alcohol at the time.

Powell police say McCament was driving north on Day Street around 5 p.m. when she pulled out in front of a Dodge Dakota that was heading west on Coulter Avenue (U.S. Highway 14A). Following the collision, the Dodge came to rest a short distance away on Day Street, but McCament’s SUV continued north “at a high rate of speed,” Powell Police Chief Jim Rhea said of the information gathered by his department. The 2018 Chevy Traverse traveled roughly a block before smashing through the west side of the liquor store.

Bregar, whose background includes time as a first responder, checked on McCament and stayed with her until emergency medical services arrived.

“I’m kind of used to seeing crashes and impacts, just not on my own property,” he mused.

McCament was taken to Powell Valley Hospital to be checked out and was later cleared, Rhea said. Park County Circuit Court records show police issued misdemeanor citations that include failure to yield and driving while under the influence of alcohol.

During the officers’ investigation, “they were able to determine the odor of alcohol was not just from the alcohol that was spilled everywhere, but was related to the driver,” Rhea said.

McCament spent Thursday night in jail before being released to await an initial court appearance next week.

As for the Powell Liquor Market, it remained closed on Monday for cleanup and repairs, which could take some time.

Bregar also owns the Powell Ace Hardware store, which is in the process of moving from its current location on Bent Street into the former grocery store area that adjoins the liquor store. He said last week’s crash did not impact that side of the building and will not delay Ace’s move.

“Everything’s still on schedule,” Bregar said, adding that the crash “put a lot on our plates, but we’ll get ‘er done.”

He expects to have Ace fully moved into its new quarters by early next month, and to be partially open with some items sooner than that.

Bregar owns multiple Ace stores, but said he’s never had anything like Thursday’s crash. At his store in Rapid City, South Dakota, an elderly woman once crashed through the front door after accidentally hitting the gas instead of the brake, but “that was a much easier cleanup than a lot of alcohol,” Bregar said.

While he didn’t have a dollar figure on Monday, Bregar said the store’s insurer relayed that it was definitely “a high level claim.”

It wasn’t the only alleged DUI to result in property damage in recent days. Just hours before the crash at the Powell Liquor Store, a Powell man ran over a speed limit sign and a couple delineator posts on U.S. Highway 14A outside of Ralston. An official test administered nearly three-and-a-half hours after the traffic stop put Jeremy Ohman’s blood alcohol content at 0.288% — over three times the legal limit for driving. The 45-year-old pleaded guilty on Monday to driving drunk with a juvenile passenger, received credit for the five days he’d served in jail and a year of unsupervised probation.

Then on Friday, the day after the crash, a potentially drunk driver crashed into one of the pillars in front of Blair’s Market (see related story).

“People need to stop drinking and driving,” Rhea said. “We definitely need the community's help in following safe procedures and exercising good judgment whenever they drink ...”

He added that catching drunk drivers is a focus for the department.