(Telegraph photo by DEAN SHALHOUP) A paramedic walks back to an ambulance while a building safety official assesses the damage to Darrell's Music Hall after this SUV crashed into the south side of the store around noon today.

NASHUA — Standing between a couple of pianos in the Darrell’s Music Hall’s showroom, Adam Darrell and a customer had just wrapped up their conversation when a typical Tuesday noontime at the downtown Nashua store suddenly turned into anything but.

The customer was not yet out the door when the sounds of twisting metal, shattering glass and splintering wood filled the store and froze everyone in their tracks.

“Thirty seconds earlier, we were right there,” Darrell said later Tuesday, pointing to the spot where he and the customer were standing before parting ways.

What Darrell and a handful of others in the store at the time heard was the store’s south wall partially giving way, the result of an SUV crashing through the windows and brick and coming to rest halfway into the showroom.

Darrell said it appeared that the driver of the SUV had suffered a medical problem, causing him to lose control of the vehicle as it approached the intersection of Water and Main streets.

(Photo by ADAM DARRELL) Firefighters size up the situation after assisting paramedics in rescuing the driver from the SUV that crashed into Darrell's Music Hall around noon Tuesday. The driver is believed to have suffered a medical emergency that caused him to lose control of the vehicle.

He said a passenger in the vehicle, who appeared to be uninjured, grabbed the steering wheel and tried to bring the vehicle to a stop.

Firefighters assisted the driver from the vehicle, and an AMR ambulance transported him to a local hospital.

The incident marked the second time within a few months that a vehicle crashed into the store, Darrell said. The earlier crash caused relatively minor damage, he added.

Darrell said he hopes to be able to reopen the store sometime Wednesday, once a structural engineer has examined the building to make sure it is safe for occupancy.

A crew arrived shortly after the crash and put up framing, which they covered with plywood to temporarily secure the building.

(Photo by ADAM DARRELL) The SUV that crashed into the south side of Darrell's Music Hall Tuesday came to rest partially inside the store's piano showroom. Nobody inside was injured, but it was a close call for Adam Darrell, who was talking to a customer in front of the large windows 30 seconds before impact.

Dean Shalhoup may be reached at 594-1256 or dshalhoup@nashuatelegraph.com.

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