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Investigation underway after truck smashes into Mini Cooper at emissions test

A Valley man says his car was totaled after a trip to get an emissions test ended badly.

SURPRISE, Ariz. - It was supposed to be a routine emissions test, but instead ended with Paul Sweeney's beloved Mini Cooper smashed.

"You always plan on keeping something, but there's always something that breaks your plan," Sweeney said.

The man claims he was sitting inside the testing facility in Surprise, near Bell Road and Grand Avenue, when he heard a loud commotion.

"All I heard was a boom," he said. "A big boom sound."

That boom was the sound of the vehicle behind his car, a Dodge truck, slamming into the back of his Mini Cooper. The collision totaled Sweeney's car and left the bumper of the other vehicle dented.

The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality says the accident happened when an employee in the truck was repositioning the vehicle and accidentally hit the gas.

The incident is under investigation and the employee has been sent back to driver training.

ADEQ also says they're mandating all customers stand inside a safety booth during all testing and employees must honk before be putting vehicles into drive to ensure the lane is clear.

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