PHOTOS: Dump Truck Crashes into Nittany Mall Parking Lot

UPDATED @ 4:40 p.m. May 24: The driver involved in this wreck has been identified. He doesn’t remember the crash, according to a police report. We’ve posted an updated article on this page.

Earlier coverage is posted below; a photo gallery is posted to the right.

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Earlier coverage, posted @ 4:35 p.m. May 23:

A dump truck careened off the Benner Pike and into the Nittany Mall parking lot about 1:30 p.m. Monday, State College police said.

No serious injuries were immediately reported, though the vehicle’s driver was taken to Mount Nittany Medical Center for evaluation, said police Lt. Bradley Smail.

He said the truck driver — whose name was not immediately available — was conscious and talking when emergency responders took him from the scene.

The construction vehicle — tagged with markings for  T.L. Park Trucking, of Clarence — had been headed toward Bellefonte on the Benner Pike when it veered off the roadway at the intersection for Wal-Mart and the Nittany Mall in College Township, Smail said.

It went up over the curb, through some landscaping and into the mall parking lot, where it struck two parked cars, witnesses told police.

Then the truck traveled back onto the Benner Pike for a short distance before careening back into the mall parking lot again, Smail said.

There, it struck — and came to rest against — a light pole outside the J.C. Penney store.

A few trees used for landscaping were badly damaged, and responders closed the Benner Pike between Stocker Chevrolet and the Wal-Mart intersection about 90 minutes for clean-up.

The wreck brought a substantial response from the Alpha Fire Company, Centre LifeLink, the state Department of Transportation and the State College police. But it wasn’t immediately clear what caused the incident, in which the truck appeared to be out of control for 150 to 175 yards.

Investigators were looking into the cause Monday afternoon and reconstructing the crash at the scene. A portion of the mall parking lot remained roped off for clean-up and reconstruction work.

StateCollege.com will post additional information as it becomes available. A photo gallery from the scene is posted to the right of this report.