Traffic came to a halt on Pine Island Road for nearly half an hour on the evening of Dec. 25 when a crash impaired the roadway in Matlacha. According to officials with the Lee County Sheriff’s office, Michael Keith Ferguson, 53, of Jasper, GA was heading west on Pine Island Road in Matlacha at approximately 8:15 p.m. when he drove his car into the Matlacha Menagerie Gallery and Cafe. Ferguson and his passenger had to be cut out of the vehicle and were transported to an area hospital. Ferguson sustained a head injury and broken wrist and his passenger was treated for a broken arm. As a result of the accident, Ferguson has been charged with a DUI offence as well as causing serious bodily injury to another and damage to property. The owner of the business, Larry Solinger, first learned about the accident when he received a call from his alarm company.

“I had just settled in for the evening when the alarm company called to tell me that the front door alarm had been set off so I told them to alert the police and I went over to investigate,” Solinger said. “When I got there the police had already arrived and I saw the car laying on it’s driver’s side and the front end through the front of my building. While this has created something of a hardship for us, we are just thankful that no one was seriously injured.”

The business was closed at the time of the crash.

Within 24 hour of the crash, Solinger replaced the front of the building with two large sections of plywood and re-painted the facade to match the rest of the building.

“We didn’t want the place to be an eyesore and we were encouraged to make quick temporary repairs by our landlord,” Solinger said. “Once the front was repaired an artist named Christine came over and painted a door and window on the plywood and I also hung some of our metal art out to help dress it up. We are back in business, but it is going to take a lot of good grace from the county to help us to remain open until permanent repairs can be made.”

My Monday morning the Matlacha Menagerie Gallery and Cafe was up and running, offering its patrons a “crash and dent” sale.