Car Crashes Into Dillard's: Store to Partially Reopen Thursday

The Dillard's department store at Countryside Mall will partially reopen Thursday morning, while crews continue to cleanup and repair damage caused by a car that crashed into the store. The store's second floor will reopen at 10 a.m. Thursday, however the lower level will remain closed, according to a Dillard's staff member.

Yellow caution tape was placed around the closed store's lower level entrances Wednesday morning, while crews assessed damage from the fire and crash. A steady stream of onlookers drove through the mall's parking lot in an effort to get a glimpse of the large hole in the side of the department store. TV crews covered the story from the parking lot.

A driver intentionally crashed his Honda Accord into the store, sparking a fire on the east side of the building Wednesday, according to police.

Ellis Vaughn, 64, was extricated and transported to St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa with serious but non-life threatening injuries and burns, according to Clearwater Police. He has since been transferred to Tampa General.

Vaughn told investigators that he was trying to commit suicide and drove his vehicle at a high rate of speed into the building, according to investigators. The crash occurred at about 2 a.m. Wednesday.

Police and firefighters arriving at the mall store, at 27001 U.S. Highway 19 North, at 2:04 a.m. Wednesday, discovered a large hole on the east side of the building. While tending to the fire, the fire department located one vehicle inside the store.

Twenty-four firefighting "units" arrived to fight the blaze, according to a police report. They included Clearwater Fire and Rescue, Dunedin Fire Department, St. Petersburg Fire Department, Tampa Fire Department, Sunstar Paramedics and Clearwater Police.

There was extensive fire, water and smoke damage to a back storage room where the incident took place. Sprinklers extinguished the fire almost immediately. It took nearly four hours and a ventilation truck from Tampa Fire and Rescue to get smoke out of Dillard's.

The media swarmed the scene and tweeted pre-dawn photos.

Mall video surveillance will not be released at this time as it is part of the investigation.

Vaughn told police that he had left his residence unlocked with a suicide note and next-of-kin information. Units responded to Vaughn's residence and confirmed this information.

Updated: 4:30 p.m., May 15

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