Police: Man Crashes SUV Into Closed Kroger to Use Bathroom

Police in Texas say an urgent bathroom need ended with a supermarket's front doors demolished, the New York Times reports. Rosenberg authorities allege 60-year-old James Mansell Lancaster Jr. drove his Chevy HHR through the locked entrance of a Kroger around 4:30am Sunday because he needed to use the restroom and the store was closed. Photos show the SUV inside the store, having plowed past cereal shelves before stopping near a Halloween candy display.

Employees were on the scene, stocking in other areas of the store, at the time. No one was hurt, but damage is estimated at about $50,000. Lancaster remained at the scene and is charged with felony criminal mischief. He was being held in the Fort Bend County Jail as of Monday. Kroger says it won't release surveillance footage and emphasized that employee and customer safety is a key priority. "I guess when you gotta go, you gotta go," police wrote on Facebook, per WTNH. "But we strongly advise finding a store open for business … to do your business." The Houston Chronicle runs down a number of other businesses nearby that were, in fact, open and could presumably have offered restroom access.