BURWELL, Neb. (KSNB) - A bait shop that’s been a part of the Burwell community for close to 40 years is left in ruins. This comes after an early morning crash Monday, which ended with an SUV inside the store.

It’s something that owner Chris Scudder could hardly believe. Scudder has only owned Dad’s Bait Shop for two and a half weeks.

Then on Monday morning, he got the call that he never expected.

It was one of his employees who told Scudder about the crash.

“I couldn’t really believe it at the time and then I got in there and saw what actually happened my jaw dropped and kind of started to cry and it was just unreal of what happened,” said Scudder.

He said it was devastating.

“You’re sad, angry, your mad, all of them,” Scudder said.

He said they had all new inventory, the staff was clicking, the community was excited and they were ready to rock and roll for the season.

“It couldn’t be more of a worse time,” he said.

The crash caused severe damage to the building, taking out the gas pump, a pole and destroying nearly everything inside.

He said they are waiting for the structural engineer to give the all clear and make sure everything is good for them to begin the cleanup process with the plan to rebuild.

Scudder says he had been pursuing owning Dad’s for quite a while. After selling his lawn business, he had the capital to purchase the shop.

“I always wanted to own that store because it was on a great location and the community loved it,” Scudder said. “(I) wanted to bring it back to its glory days.”

He couldn’t say thank you enough to support he’s had from people from the area.

“They’ve been behind me since day one to buy the place and behind me now to put it back up and the support has been amazing,” said Scudder.

He’s also found a new found respect for insurance with his employees wages covered while the shop is closed.

Scudder is hopeful if everything goes right, they will be able to reopen by the Fourth of July.

The Garfield County Sheriff’s Office is still investigating the crash. At last check, no charges had been filed against the person behind the wheel.