As Liz Garibaldi and Anthony Saucedo scooped up debris inside a popular open gallery in Long Beach, they couldn't believe their lifelong dream was ruined.
“It's gone. It's completely gone,” said Garibaldi, who opened the gallery on Seventh Avenue with Saucedo five years ago. “We put everything we had into this business and finally got to the point where we were not just surviving, but starting to grow.”
The couple was sleeping in the gallery's loft area with their 13-year-old son when two cars crashed through the gallery's windows early Saturday morning.
One SUV narrowly missed the teenager, who was sleeping in the bed closest to the window.
“I just saw the wall next to me pushed into the side of the bed and I imagined the worst,” Garibaldi said.
Fortunately, no one was injured.
Police said the driver of the SUV was intoxicated. He was arrested and taken away on a stretcher.
The female passenger fled in another vehicle.
The family said speeding has always been a problem on 7th Avenue, and other local businesses have also asked for crosswalks to be installed to make it safer for pedestrians.
“Last year, there were three fatal head-on collisions of people just walking across the street,” said Tarik Valles, general manager of the Long Beach Green Room, which is located across the street from the accident scene. Ta. “I hope the city council approves a crosswalk to prevent these accidents from happening.”
The office of Long Beach City Councilwoman Cindy Allen, who represents the area, said she will work with gallery owners to support grants and funding. She added that she would like to see the city consider crosswalks in the area.
Meanwhile, the community has responded and poured in donations to the gallery's gofundme, which has exceeded $30,000.
The family hopes to raise $150,000 to cover repairs and housing costs for the family, who are “hopping around the family home.”
