Boat Crashes Through Sylvan Lake Storefront

SYLVAN LAKE (WWJ) - It was an odd sight to see: half a boat sticking out of an Oakland County storefront.

Sylvan Lake business owner Paul Tarnas explained the vessel, on a trailer, separated from the pickup truck that had been pulling it and just kept rolling until it sailed through a window.

"The trailer actually had a spare tire toward the front of the trailer, that when it broke away from the pickup truck, instead of going straight, it actually veered off to the right and made a right hand turn building," Tarnas told WWJ's Laura Bonnell.

For 30 years Tarnas has worked from his Visions Optical store on Orchard Lake. He was supposed to move across the street into his new building next month; but because of Wednesday's accident, he'll have to wait until January.

"My building was the direct target," Tarnas said. "It went right through a window that was probably 10 feet by six feet tall. Luckily (there was) no structural damage to the building; just a direct hit to this big window."

Tarnas said it's not a total shock.

"We see boats on trailers hundreds of times during the day — at this time of year everybody's taking in their boats," he said. "You always wonder if something like this is gonna happen."

Fortunately, no one was in the business at the time of the crash and no one was hurt.