Woolsey Hall sustained minor damage in a single-car accident Sunday night after a male driver apparently lost control of a Mercedes-Benz while driving down Prospect Street, a University Police officer at the accident scene said.

The driver of the automobile, which left skid marks on the sidewalk in front of the building, appeared to have lost control while driving onto College Street. The car traveled on the sidewalk at least 75 feet before crashing into a small staircase.

The automobile dislodged one cement block from the staircase and warped one of the railings but did not damage the heavily-traveled main entrance to the building at the corner of Grove and College streets.

A tow truck parked in front of the front steps of Woolsey removed the automobile from the scene at about 11 p.m. last night and cleared pieces of the gold four-door vehicle’s shattered right front end and bumper from the sidewalk.

Lee Seymour ’09 said he was talking with friends in front of Silliman College when he heard the “shotgun blast” of the accident around 10:15 p.m.. Seymour and a group of his friends approached the vehicle to aid the motorist but backed away when they saw the vehicle was leaking gasoline. The motorist did not appear to be injured and was beginning to exit his vehicle when the University police arrived, he said.

The motorist was taken to Yale-New Haven Hospital as a precautionary measure, but did not appear to have life-threatening injuries, the University Police officer said.

[ydn-legacy-photo-inline id=”15814″ ]