ST. LOUIS — A St. Louis pastor is speaking out after a driver slammed into his church over the weekend.
He said it is part of an even larger problem.
According to Pastor Anthony Robinson, Greater St. Luke Baptist Church has been part of the Baden community for more than two decades.
"We've been here 24 years now. Next year will be our 25th," he said.
Robinson said they felt called to give this community a spiritual boost.
"It gave us an opportunity to bring some joy, some laughter, some uplift, something positive into a community that already has a negative connotation," he said.
Over the weekend though, Robinson showed up to worship and found a hole in the side of his church.
"It was difficult and very disheartening to get here Sunday morning to find that our building had been crashed into," he said.
Police told Robinson around 1:30 p.m. Sunday, a speeding driver hit his sanctuary and then took off. More than 24 hours later, parts of the car and tire marks still remained.
"They lost control early in the morning and we're the ones who have to deal with the damage of all the fallout of them speeding down Broadway," he said.
Robinson described the stretch of N. Broadway as a "racetrack" and said day and night he sees cars going close to 100 mph.
"This has been an ongoing problem and even though they spend millions of dollars to narrow the street, it's still not stopping the problem," he said.
Unfortunately, this isn't the first time Robinson's church has been hit by reckless drivers. Sunday's damage is just one of many in the past several years.
"This is not the first time. This is our fourth time being hit," he said.
Lose wires and empty light poles still sit in front of the church, after Robinson said, drivers damaged it multiple times and the city has yet to replace it.
"This is a direct result of something needing to be done in this community," he said.
Robinson said for a community that has had many black eyes over the years, he's hopeful they can be restored and whole again.
"If we can do something about the traffic, it will really be a positive light into a very dark situation," he said.
Pastor Robinson said even something as simple as speed bumps would help slow down the traffic.
He is currently working with police to find the driver of the car.
Robinson said the person responsible for the damage should do the right thing and fix it.