Car crashes into roof of veterans hall in Missouri — again

CBS News

30-05-2025

A car has crashed through the roof of a Missouri veterans hall for the second time in three months.
Video shows a car careening off a nearby road and crashing into the Clay-Ray Veterans Memorial Hall in Excelsior Springs. The vehicle collides with the roof of the building and sends debris flying. Pieces of the vehicle hit a flagpole in the hall's front yard.
The driver of the car was injured but was able to walk to an ambulance before going to the hospital, CBS affiliate KCTV reported. Police told KCTV they were investigating whether the driver had a medical emergency or was otherwise impaired.
There was no one inside the hall at the time of the incident, police said. The collision was captured by cameras at the Lewis Elementary School, which sits adjacent to the hall. School was not in session at the time of the incident, police said.
Security camera footage shows moment that a car crashes through the trees and into the roof of the clay Ray veterans hall in Excelsior Springs Missouri on May 28, 2025
Newly released footage from the Excelsior Springs School District shows two dramatic angles of the car that crashed through the roof of the Clay-Ray Veterans Memorial Hall.In the video, the vehicle is seen speeding through the trees before slamming into the roof—its engine detaching mid-impact and striking the flagpole in the front yard.Video provided courtesy of the Excelsior Springs School District and Excelsior Springs Police Department. Posted by Excelsior Citizen on Wednesday, May 28, 2025
Police did not say what damage the hall incurred.
The first crash occurred in February, police said, when a Kansas man tried to outrun law enforcement after being pulled over because they believed he was intoxicated. During the chase, the driver was going more than 100 miles per hour, police said. KCTV reported the driver, identified by police as Calen Hollis, was a sex offender. He sustained multiple fractures, and two juvenile female passengers had serious but injuries that were not life-threatening, police said. Hollis was charged with two counts of fleeing a traffic stop, resulting in injury.
Again, no one was in the hall at the time of that crash. The building's kitchen was destroyed, KCTV reported.
The police department said it will meet with traffic safety partners to "see if any improvements can be made in the area." Lisa Reinhart, an area resident, told KCTV that she blames drivers, not the road.
"If you drive the speed limit, it's not an issue," Reinhart said. "It's 25 through here, so it shouldn't be an issue unless you're blatantly not listening to the speed limit."