NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. – A driver was hospitalized after a pickup truck drove completely through a restaurant in New Smyrna Beach, police said.
The crash happened early Friday at The Sand Bar Café at 1500 South Dixie Freeway.
New Smyrna Beach police said the driver was taken to AdventHealth New Smyrna Beach with non-life-threatening injuries.
Details about the crash have not been released, but photos from the scene show holes in either side of the restaurant, with the pickup inside amid glass, debris, barstools and booths.
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“It’s pretty shocking given the distance from the street where the turn is over there. They went in between the palm tree and the sign and that’s like a 15-foot squeeze right there,” the restaurant’s owner Spiro Tryfonopoulos said.
Tryfonopoulos said he was called just after midnight to get to his restaurant. Since the restaurant closes at 2 p.m. on Thursdays, Tryfonopoulos said thankfully no one was there at the time.
“I raced over here and saw the truck on the flatbed,” he said.
The pickup truck plowed through the north exterior wall, into the dining area, before hitting the second wall and finally came to a stop.
“Both of the walls are gone, all my tables are gone, a lot of chairs are gone. Some of the counter top, my stools,” he said.
With the restaurant forced to close for the foreseeable future, many locals showed up Friday hoping to get a meal but were met with the giant hole and unsafe building sign.
“It feels good knowing so many people are coming out to eat today and obviously then to give their sympathy and everything. It means a lot,” Tryfonopoulos said.
The owner added it’s because of that kindness, and his employees, that he already has his sights set on hopefully reopening in a few months.
“I’ll go talk to the insurance, see what it’s going to cost, get a scope of work, try to fix this place up again and open back up for business,” he said.
Police said they are treating this as a criminal investigation but wouldn’t elaborate further on why. At last check, the driver is still in the hospital.
Check back for updates.