SAUGUS, MASS. (WHDH) - A driver is now expected to face charges in connection with a violent crash that sent two cars into a former Boston Market restaurant in Saugus on Monday.
The crash happened Monday night along Route 1. Police soon responded and in an initial statement said a 62-year-old man appeared to have slammed into a parked car, pushing both vehicles into the shuttered Boston Market.
In an update Tuesday, police said the Boston man had a suspended license and drugs on him at the time of the crash.
The driver was taken to a hospital Monday night. While was still recovering as of Tuesday afternoon, police said he is expected to face charges of negligent operation, operating an unregistered car without a license and possession or either fentanyl or heroin.
New video emerged, in the meantime, as people in the area shared their reactions to this incident.
“It almost sounded like a bomb going off,” said local business owner Phil Castinetti. “It was that loud.”
Castinetti said security cameras at his store, Sportsworld, caught the SUV involved in this crash zooming along Route 1 before veering off the highway.
Video from another nearby store captured the sound of the collision.
“It was just mayhem out there,” Castinetti said. “– The cars in the Boston Market and the sprinklers were going off, it was like a movie.”
The SUV was lodged on its roof inside the empty restaurant. The parked car was empty at the time of the crash but was badly damaged after it ended up in the restaurant.
Antonio Garcia of McGarvey Towing said his company removed both vehicles.
Speaking with 7NEWS, he said crews could not flip the SUV inside the building for fears of collapsing the ceiling.
“So, we winched it out and then, once we got it into the parking lot, we flipped it over,” he said.
Emergency crews remained on scene for several hours Monday night, shoring up the damaged building, removing the vehicles and later boarding up the gaping hole left in the storefront.
A day later Castinetti continued his reaction.
“To be going that fast down Route 1 at that time of night, you figure something has to be up,” he said. “The cop told me he was probably doing over 100. That was just crazy.”
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