Slidell woman smashes vehicle into Allstate Insurance office

Monday mornings are not the best of times, but for the workers at the Allstate Insurance office at 682 Old Spanish Trail, it turned into a shattering experience when a Slidell woman pulling into the parking lot smashed into the front lobby of the office.

Bobby Plescia, whose mother, Juanita Plescia owns the insurance office, said they had just opened at 9 a.m. when Olivia P. Lundberry, 70, of Slidell slammed her 2006 Dodge Dakota into the lobby, taking out the front wall and scattering office furniture.

“It started out as a nice Monday morning, and then we all heard this big crash,” Plescia said.

Luckily, there was no one in the lobby at the time of the accident, and there were no employees injured.

Lundberry told police and Plescia she was turning into the parking lot, and when she hit the brakes, nothing happened.

However, Slidell police spokesman Capt. Kevin Foltz said the police officers checked the brakes on the truck and found them to be in working order.

“They believe she probably hit the gas pedal instead of the brakes by accident,” Foltz said.

Lundbery was taken to a local hospital and was released after it was determined she had no injuries. She was not given a citation for the accident, according to Foltz.

Plescia said that ironically, Lundbery was not coming to his office, but was doing business with the competition, State-Farm Insurance, which is next door to Allstate.