Extra Breakage in Eastwood Movie Stunt

A department store window was accidentally shattered by an explosion a block away during the filming of a Clint Eastwood movie stunt in which a luxury car hurtles from an upper window of a downtown building, authorities said today.

The fiery blast accompanying the 11 p.m. stunt Wednesday shattered a window of Robinson’s department store at 600 W. 7th St., about a block from the vacant warehouse near Eighth and Figueroa streets in which the stunt was done, Sgt. Jim Leinen said.

The stunt otherwise went as planned without any injuries, but it set off burglar alarms, Leinen said.

A videotape of the stunt shows the car smashing through the top floor window of the 5-story building and flying through the air before it smashed onto hay bales on the ground.

As soon as the car was airborne outside the building, a gigantic blast ripped through the fifth floor. A freeze frame of the video showed the flying car framed by a fireball. Fire erupted on several floors of the building, but was soon put out, an eyewitness said.

Leinen said the stunt was staged for the Warner Bros. film, “The Rookie,” starring Clint Eastwood. The car, which Leinen said was a Mercedes Benz 500 SL, was unoccupied. The film crew re-staged the stunt about 1:45 a.m., Leinen said.

“It went as it was intended to,” he said of the original stunt. “It was supposed to be a fiery blaze and a tremendous blast. I think they just got one too many windows.”