An escape from cold weather is apparently sought by more than just the town's human residents.
Customers and staff at Sun Splash Tanning on Elden Street in the K-Mart mini-mall came away unscathed Monday night after an adult female deer came crashing into the tanning salon through a front plate-glass window, said Randy Thompson, Sunsplash Tanning owner.
"What's crazy about the location in Herndon is that there are no forests anywhere near there, so we have no idea where it came from," Thompson said.
The deer, which appeared in front of the store at approximately 8 p.m., first bumped into one window before crashing through the next. It then bounded into the store, frightening the 10 customers and three staff members present, before taking off down a back hallway, where it stayed for approximately five minutes before leaving through the broken window at the front of the store. Fairfax County Animal Control caught the deer as it wandered in the shopping center parking lot, Thompson said.
Despite the intrusion of the large animal, damage to the store and tanning equipment was limited to under $3,000, the majority of which will be covered by insurance, according to Thompson.
While he said he could not account for where the deer came from or why it entered the store, Thompson said that he has his theories.
"I think it saw the green coloring that we have in the store and somehow thought that it belonged inside," he said. "But this was crazy. I've been in the business 22 years ... and I have never seen anything like that before."
In response to the disturbance, Thompson said that Sun Splash Tanning will be holding a "tan for less 'doe'" special on tanning sessions at the Herndon location for a limited time.
The Herndon location of Sunsplash Tanning is one of three Sun Splash Tanning salons in Fairfax County.