BY JIM ROBERTS
KEMPSVILLE — It fell in the weirdly paced week after Christmas, but Friday, Dec. 30, was a normal day for Cyndy Ciccone — just like thousands of others she had logged working at Smith Discount Books over the last 20 years.
But at 7:20 p.m. — just 10 minutes before she would have closed for the night — a car crashed through the front of the bookstore in the Providence Square Shopping Center in Virginia Beach.
All Ciccone remembers is a loud noise.
“It just happened so fast,” she said during an interview at the bookstore in late February. “It took me a minute to realize that this was real, you know? … It was scary because there were customers in the store. I was shocked — just shocked. It took a minute to register in my brain.”
The night of the crash, workers from the ABC store next door ran over and called 911. Ciccone said one of them climbed into the car and turned it off because it was still running.
They also discovered two women who had been shopping in the front section of the store were injured. One had a broken leg.
Police and rescue officials arrived within minutes, followed by the bookstore’s owners, Barry and Patricia Smith.
“He just came up over the curb and came crashing right through the front door — knocked both doors right off the hinges, knocked the one window out, and knocked all the bookcases over,” Barry Smith said.
“It’s terrible,” he added.
The Smiths and Ciccone stayed on the scene until 2:30 a.m., waiting for a restoration company to board up the storefront.
The business has been closed ever since. The Smiths are waiting for the property manager to begin repairs so they can reopen their bookstore.
“Grillo admitted to consuming two shots of bourbon earlier in the day and submitted to the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus Test and indicated impairment,” a city police officer said in an affidavit for a search warrant filed the day after the crash.
“A bottle of Ten High Bourbon Whiskey was recovered from the passenger compartment of the vehicle,” the affidavit says.
Grillo, 43, was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated, first offense, and maiming while driving under the influence. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Friday, March 24, in Virginia Beach General District Court.
According to a court record, he told police he was going to the ABC store next door to Smith Books.
Amber Torgerson, an attorney representing Grillo, did not respond to a Monday, Feb. 27, call seeking comment. Grillo remains in jail, according to a Sheriff’s Office record.
“I got tired of the snow,” Barry Smith said. “The cold weather was terrible. My father-in-law was always trying to get us to come down. So we decided to pack up and head south.”
Their store was originally located at Fairfield Shopping Center but moved across the street to Providence Square when they needed more space.
The Smiths say business is good, despite online and “big box” competition.
“You have to find your niche,” Patricia Smith said. “Our biggest niches: juvenile books, science fiction and classics. Those three sections sell really well.”
Despite their past success, the Smiths are concerned about losing their customer base.
“You know,” Barry Smith said, “when people come to a place for a while and then it’s not open for a long time, they find other places to go. To get them back is really hard.”
Barry Smith is 72 but has no plans to retire.
“I was considering that until now,” he said. “I feel like I’ve been retired for the last two months, and I’m going crazy. I’m gonna get back to work.”
Ciccone feels the same way.
“I miss it,” she said. “I miss being here so much. … I love being around books, and I love the customers. My customers are fantastic.”
Smith Discount Books is located at 5237 Providence Road — next to the Kroger. Look for updates on the store’s Facebook page.
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Smith books will be reopening tomorrow at 10am! Thank you for the patience. Hope to see you.