A woman was admitted to VCU Medical Center yesterday morning after her car went out of control in South Richmond and smashed through some large front windows at an industrial supplies business.

Monique Battle, 20, was listed in stable condition with injuries that authorities said were not life-threatening after the 7 a.m. crash in the 1400 block of Commerce Road.

Battle was driving a sedan that left a trail of skid marks about 180 feet long, stretching from the northbound lanes of Commerce Road across a parking lot and into the front of Cardinal Rubber & Seal Inc.

The four-door sedan hit a crape myrtle tree, jumped a sidewalk, tore through some shrubs and smashed through large plate-glass windows just to the left of the business's front door.

The collision shattered a section of windows roughly 10 feet wide, set off the car's air bags and left it partially inside the business against a dislodged stand of steel display shelves.

The business was not yet open for the day, and no one was inside.

"It doesn't look like there's much damage as far as the inventory is concerned. The glass is another matter," Mack Franklin, the company's branch manager, said as he prepared to open the business. "I'm just glad none of my people were in here. If they were walking around in one of those aisles, they would have really gotten hurt."

Battle was charged with reckless driving.
Contact Joe Macenka at (804) 649-6804 or jmacenka@timesdispatch.com.