By PJ Green
The Kansas City Star
EXCELSIOR SPRINGS, Mo. — For the second time in three months, a vehicle drove off the road and smashed a hole into the roof of the Clay-Ray Veterans Association building in Excelsior Springs Wednesday morning.
At 7:20 a.m., Excelsior Springs police and fire units were dispatched to the area of the Clay-Ray VA Building at 200 Veterans Memorial Drive for a traffic accident, according to police spokesperson Lt. Ryan Dowdy.
First responders found a vehicle lodged in the roof. Firefighters extracted the driver through the hole in the roof. He walked to an ambulance under his own power, Dowdy said.
The driver was transported to a local hospital for evaluation. Authorities believe the driver suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
Police are unclear what caused the accident, but are investigating two possibilities, Dowdy said, including impairment and the possibility of a medical episode causing the driver to accelerate to high speeds.
Officials acknowledge it’s become an all-too-familiar scene.
“Very similar to our previous incident a few months ago,” Dowdy said in a statement sent to The Star.
The first crash
On Feb. 15, an alleged Olathe sex offender led police on a high-speed chase in Excelsior Springs that ended with the vehicle putting a hole in the roof of the same veterans building.
Calen Hollis, 22, was charged with two counts of aggravated fleeing a stop in a crash where he allegedly had two 13-year-old female passengers in the car with him, according to court records.
Around 1:30 a.m. that morning, Excelsior Springs police allegedly saw a 2025 Volkswagen Jetta on Route 10 highway and South McCleary Road driven in a way that made officers believe Hollis may have been under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Once officers activated their emergency lights, Hollis allegedly accelerated east on Route 10 and Kearney Road , driving over 100 mph.
As the vehicle approached the S-curve at the intersection of Old Orchard Street and Kearney Road, the driver allegedly continued eastbound on Linwood Avenue, where it launched off the road near Wildwood Street, flew over St. Louis Avenue, and crashed into the roof of the Clay-Ray veterans building, Excelsior Springs Police Chief Gregory Dull said.
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