Vehicles Crash Into Two Restaurants In Dallas
Incidents of vehicles crashing into buildings are more common than what many people believe. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that there are more than 60 crashes of motor vehicles crashing into homes and businesses around the country every day.
According to a report appearing on the Dallas Morning News website, there have been two separate incidents of cars crashing into area restaurants in the Dallas-Fort Worth area this past week on the same day.
Sgt. Warren Mitchell with the Dallas Police Department told reporters that the two crashes do not appear related.
The first crash happened at 2:15 a.m. on Tuesday, November 17 at the S & D Oyster Company when an SUV crashed into a wall. The restaurant was able to open later that day; however, the gaping hole left behind was visible to lunch hour customers. Employees managed to board up the hole by the close of business that day.
Herb Story, the owner of the 44-year-old establishment, isn’t sure how much repairs to the building will cost. The building was originally built in the late 1800s, so the wall is already fragile.
The second auto-structure collision happened just over 12 hours later at the Haute Sweets Patisserie located in the Lake Highlands/White Rock area along the Northwest Highway. A woman crashed her SUV through an exterior wall and into the kitchen when she mistook her accelerator pedal for the brake. Three employees, including chef and owner Tida Pichakron who was in the kitchen, were also struck in the collision. All three were taken to an area hospital for treatment. All are expected to be ok.
The business has been so significantly damaged that it will not be able to fill orders for holiday pies and weddings for at least a month. Though Haute Suite Patisserie is dependent on holiday business, it will issue refunds to customers who have already paid.
A Go Fund Me page was set up for Haute Sweets Patisserie with an initial goal of $10,000. This was later increased to $15,000 to help defray costs to the business. So far, more than $13,000 has been raised.
