YOUNGSTOWN — Tony Singh, owner of Gateway Gas Mart on Market Street just south of downtown, says he’s never had anyone drive through a brick wall and into his business to steal from him before.

In fact, he had never heard of it happening anywhere before.

“Never. This is the first time it happened like this in my life,” he said, adding the 4:30 a.m. Tuesday crash did “big damage,” about $40,000 worth, to the store.

The store is closed, including the gas pumps, and the wall near the drive-thru where a white 2006 Ford van plowed through is boarded up.

The good news is Singh said he expects the business to reopen in about a week. Singh said the vehicle involved was a “big van.” It was still at the scene when police arrived. They had it towed for storage and investigation.

After backing into the store, the thief or thieves took two cash registers containing money and $20,000 in cash from the store’s safe, according to a Youngstown police report.

Police were called to the store at 4:26 a.m. for an alarm and found the van inside the store.

Though a police report suggests that the safe was taken, Singh said only the money from the safe was taken.