WORCESTER, MASS. (WHDH) – An investigation is underway after a motorist veered off the road and barreled into a restaurant in Worcester on Tuesday.
Emergency crews responding to a report of a vehicle into a building in the area of Chandler Street just before 11:30 a.m. found a Toyota Highlander lodged in the side of Brazierr restaurant.
“It sounded like a boom and then the building moved,” said Rudy Veliz who lives above the restaurant. “Then we ran out and saw the car inside the restaurant.”
Video from SKY7 HD showed a toppled fence, debris scattered across a nearby lawn, and a gaping hole in the side of the restaurant.
Surveillance video shows the SUV hitting the restaurant late in the morning and the crash left the Brazilian eatery littered with bricks and pieces of splintered wood.
A pedestrian was just one step away from getting hit and seriously injured.
“They are pretty shook up about the whole thing. Their son was right there by the wall seconds before it happened,” said business advocate Orlando Davilla. “It was a big bang and the whole building shook. Yea, it was pretty scary.”
The driver, whose name has not been released, was taken to a local hospital. Three workers who were inside the restaurant at the time of the crash were not injured.
Police temporarily sealed off the area and officials are assessing damage to the building.
The two owners were inside the building at the time and say they just opened up shop last two weeks ago.
No additional details were available.
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